Becoming Bree
by Calliope-Clio 1831
Summary: What if the Volturi didn't kill Bree at the end of Eclipse? What if she was given a second chance to learn from the Cullens? How will the Cullens handle two newborns? This is Bree's prospective of life in-between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn and how she copes with the second chance she was given.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Isn't it just grand how a _man_ named Walter Elias Disney decided to taint little girls minds into believing in fairy tales are the only way a woman can function is with a _man_ by her side? Well damn girl not all happily ever after will be found when Prince Charming slips on that pretty little glass slipper and you get whisked away from your evil family to live in a palace like the princess you always were. Or that everything becomes magically better when you receive true loves kiss and all the woodland creatures help you clean your home. Or, my personal favorite of this madness, is that you have the power to change a man's bitter heart and save him from himself just so you can get your grubby hands on that library. You are never going to get a magic wand and have "ultimate cosmic powers" or "have all your dreams come true." Yeah, if that's not grounds to take the deal to plea insanity then I don't know what is. Thanks Mr. Disney! You're such a ham.

So let me make something perfectly clear with all of this being said. And I'm only going to say this once cuz I don't like repeating myself. I. Am not. _CRAZY_! Trust me, I've looked it up. According to Webster's dictionary, insanity means "the state of being seriously mentally ill; or even madness." Crazy means "mentally deranged, especially manifested in wild or aggressive behavior." Maybe, some psychologist should have been paying closer attention to the man talking to a paper mouse. I am neither of those things because I'm probably the only person on this planet with the double x chromosome that will confess with blatant vigor that she doesn't believe in fairy tales. In fact, I can't stand them. You hear THAT Walt? You can take all your pretty little pixie dust and shove it up where the sun don't shine and _go to Hell!_

Its just…I don't know, the experiences of the past seven months would make any trained professional believe that a psychiatric ward with a locked door and padded cells would be a benefical place for a troubled girl like me. Oh and they wouldn't hesitate to lock me up and throw away the key either. Just ask my rap sheet, my past ain't pretty. Life was never easy or simple like all those stupid, cheesy RomComs suggests. At least mine wasn't until I got the miracle of a second chance.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up to when it all stared. The day that Riley had us attack the Cullens.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Second Chances

Chaos. That's the way to explain what was happening now; complete and utter chaos. The air was filled with screams, snarls, and growls. Not to mention the terrible metallic grinding sound that meant one of us was being ripped apart. Not one member of the other coven was destroyed. They were too strong; so much better than us. Riley had told us, no promised us that it would be all too easy to get the girl and get out the hell out of Dodge. Now he was nowhere in sight and with all the confusion, no one knew where to turn too. He had left us leaderless and now we were being slaughtered. I blame Riley for the chaos.

Not only were the sounds of the battle horrific, the sight was something else to behold. Not only where there us and the strange eyed coven, but there were these massive, horse-sized, hairy dogs. They scared me the most. I watched a russet colored one bite the arm off of one of Kristie while a black one tore her head clean off her shoulders. I hadn't even been in the meadow for five minutes when I saw this massacre and decided that I didn't want to fight.

I didn't want to die like this. Sure I had thought about death a lot while I was growing up, but never did I imagine this. Taking one last look around to make sure that no one was coming after me, I quickly ducked under a tree and hid in the bushes to wait. Maybe if I waited long enough, they wouldn't notice me and I could sneak off to find Fred and Diego. Diego hadn't been on the boat so I tried to think that maybe he had been lucky and had got away and was waiting for me with Fred. The battle grew more gruesome by the minute and it became evident to me that this coven, these weird yellow eyed vampires, were much more stronger and better trained than Riley could have ever dream.

Suddenly, there was a ripping and grinding sound just above my head and before I had time to react, one of the males of Riley's fell to pieces right beside me. I screamed and jumped out of my hiding place before I could think that this could be a bad idea. If I thought I was surprised, you should have seen the faces of the two vampires that stood in front of me. I don't think that they were expecting to see someone hiding. They were both very beautiful. The woman had caramel brown hair and it was tied in a knot on the back of her head. Her golden yellow eyes were very soft, sort of mother like, and she looked at me with curiosity. The man could probably pass off as one of those Greek Gods that you read about in history class. He turned to the woman as she turned to him and it looked like they were having a private conversation with each other through their eyes. I tried to move my body but I couldn't, even though my brain was yelling at me to run.

"Please," I said. "I don't want to fight."

The man stepped towards me and lifted a hand out to me, but I mistook his gesture. Scared that he might raise a hand to me, I ducked my head and backed up into the tree behind me. Seeing that I was completely cornered I looked at the man, fear over taking me with thoughts that he would hurt me. I wouldn't put it pass the man that he would kill me; I had come here to kill his family. I just wish that he could see that I didn't want to fight anymore. My instincts reacted and raised my hands above my head to protect me from his blows.

"No, don't be frightened. I'm not going to hurt you." The man said. He looked at me in a way that I didn't understand. There was something that passed between his features. Was it Empathy? Pity, at least. No one had looked at me like that.

I lowered my arms just a little so that I could see him. He was smiling at me, a gesture I wasn't used to coming from a man. He had a nice smile; very trusting. I dropped my arms to my sides but kept my fists clenched just in case. There was such honesty in his odd yellow eyes that it made me wonder how I had ever believed any of Riley's stories. I felt…guilty. Maybe this coven had never planned to attack us in Seattle. How could I trust any part of what I'd been told.

"If you promise not to hurt my family, I will promise that we won't hurt you," he said softly. The woman nodded beside him. I looked at these two vampires and thought why on earth were they being so nice to me? Riley was never this nice. He would rather watch us destroy ourselves than show clemency.

"W…We didn't know," I explained, somehow ashamed. "Riley lied. I'm sorry." Again, I lowered my fists and stared back at him. He continued to hold out his hand towards me. It was a friendly gesture, and not to mention it looked inviting. Keeping my eyes on him, I took his hand and he helped me out of the brush.

"There you go. No need to be scared of us. Allow me to introduce us. I am Dr. Carlisle Cullen and this is my wife, Esme."

I looked back at the woman and she smiled at me. It was strange; no one ever smiled at me so soft and gentle like a mother. I nodded to her, not really knowing what to do.

That's when I noticed that the fighting had stopped. I scanned the battlefield and realized that I was the only one left. The four other vampires from this coven were watching us. The "Doctor," and I used Doctor loosely because I had my doubts, turned around and motioned for them to join us.

"She's so frightened Carlisle. Couldn't we…"

"I think we could if she doesn't want to fight." The Doctor said. He looked to me again. "Child, will you surrender to us. If you do not try to harm us, we promise we will not harm you."

I looked into his kind, but authoritve eyes, than to each of the four other vampires. I didn't want to trust the Doctor. Any man I had ever trusted had betrayed me so what would be the difference here? Finally, I looked at Esme. She was still smiling, and her eyes were shining with something that I didn't quite understand. I took a deep breath and turned back to the Doctor, fighting the urge to run.

"Yes," I whispered. "Yes, surrender. I don't want to hurt anybody."

He held out his hand encouragingly. "Come child. Let our family regroup for a moment, then we'll have some questions for you. If you answer honestly, you have nothing to fear."

"Carlisle!" I sharp voice came from behind the Doctor. Four other vampires joined us where we stood.

"These are our children." Startled, I looked at him with raised eyebrows. Vampires didn't have children. He didn't seemed too bothered by my surprised look. He began naming them by pointing to the one that could easily pass as a supermodel. "This is Rosalie." A beautiful blonde threw her hair over her shoulder and looked at me with what I could best describe as "resting bitch face."

"And Alice," he pointed to a short, pixie like creature whose eyes were unfocused. The Doctor continued by pointing to a man next to the pixie. "Jasper," a very tall, blonde standing next to the pixie was watching her with an anxious look on his face. If Rosalie was watching me with the same face as Morticia Addams, then Jasper glanced at me with murderous contempt. His skin was absolutely covered in scars, spaced most thickly together on his neck and jaw. A few small marks on his arm were fresh, but the rest were not from the brawl today. He had been in more fights than I could have imagined, and he'd never lost. His tawny, hawklike eyes blazed like fire and his stance exuded the barely contained violence of an angry lion. He stared me down and I backed up again, getting a tree branch to dig into my back.

"And Emmett." The last male was the only one who smiled at me, but this had little comfort, because he looked like a gigantic grizzly bear. "Bella and Edward will be with us shortly."

I jerked back and looked at Dr. Cullen when I recognized one of those names. "Bella, she's the one that Riley told us was the prize. He made us memorize her scent from the red sweater."

The Doctor looked me in the eyes with a warning. "You are not to go after Bella. If you hurt her, than there is no reason for us to protect you. Understood?"

I looked up at him in confusion. "Protect me? From what?"

The pixie named Alice answered my question. "The Volturi are coming in ten minutes. They will want to destroy you, but if you will obey us, then we will protect you." She smiled at me and it was almost as nice as when Esme smiled.

Jasper, the scarred vampire's brow clouded, and suddenly I felt an unexpected surge of frustration, though I had no idea what I was frustrated with.

"Carlisle, I.." He hesitated, then continued, "I'm sorry, but that's not possible. We can't have any of these newborns associated with us when the Volturi come. Do you realize the danger that would put us in?"

I didn't understand exactly what he was saying, but I got the gist. He wanted to kill me.

"Jasper, she's only a child," Esme protested. "We can't just murder her in cold blood?" I was strange to hear her speak like we both were normal humans, like murder was a bad thing. An avoidable thing.

"It's our family on the line here, Esme. We can't afford to have them think we broke this rule."

Esme walked between me and Jasper. Incomprehensibly, she turned her back to me.

"No, I won't stand for it."

The Doctor shot me an anxiously glance. I tried to appear as docile as I felt.

"Jasper, I think we have to take a chance," he said slowly. "We are not the Volturi. We follow their rules, but we do not take lives lightly. We will explain."

"They might think we created our own newborns in defense."

"But we didn't. And even had we, there was no indiscretion here, only in Seattle. There is no law against creating vampires if you control them."

"This is too dangerous."

The Doctor touched Jasper's shoulder tentatively. "Jasper. We cannot kill this child."

Jasper glowered at the man with the kind eyes, and I was suddenly angry. Surely he wouldn't hurt this gentle vampire or the woman he loved. Then Jasper sighed, and I knew it was okay. My anger evaporated. "I don't like this," he said, but he was calmer. "At least let me take charge of her. You two don't know how to deal with someone who's been running wild so long."

"Of course, Jasper," the woman said. "But be kind."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "We need to be with the others. Alice said we don't have long."

The Doctor nodded. He held his hand out to Esme, and they headed past Jasper back toward the open field.

The supermodel Rosalie turned to the Doctor. "Are you sure this is wise? After Bella is turned we will have two newborns on our hands. Things could get hairy." She gave a pointed glance over her shoulder at the horse-sized wolves that where one the other side of the meadow.

Alice answered again, "Things will be fine. She won't cause too much trouble because she doesn't want to be a monster any more than we do."

Esme stepped forward and gently touched my arm. I jumped, jamming the branch further into my back until it broke off. Esme held up her hands, apology in her eyes. "What is your name, dear?"

I really liked Esme. It went against everything I had been raised on, but I felt safe with her. I had known her all of five minutes but she was really sweet to me. Like a mother would be. I wanted to trust her. "Breanne," I said timidly. "But I go by Bree."

"What a lovely name," she said. "And you're very lovely yourself, dear."

I smiled at her, the first since I came here...I think.

"You," Jasper said to me, his face a glower again. "Come with us. Don't make one rash move or I will take you down."

I felt angry again as he glared at me, and a small part of me wanted to snarl and show my teeth, but I had a feeling he was looking for just that kind of excuse.

Jasper paused as if he'd just thought of something. "Close your eyes," he commanded. I hesitated. Had he decided to kill me after all?

"Do it!"

I gritted my teeth and shut my eyes. I felt twice as helpless as I had before.

"Follow the sound of my voice and don't open your eyes. You look, you lose, got it?"

I nodded, wondering what he didn't want me to see. I felt some relief that he was bothering to protect a secret. There was no reason to do so if he was just going to kill me.

"This way."

I walked slowly after him, careful to give him no excuses. He was considerate in the way he led, not walking me into any trees, at least. I could hear the way the sound changed when we were in the open; the feel of the wind was different, too, and the smell of my coven burning was stronger. I could feel the warmth of the sun on my face, and the insides of my eyelids were brighter as I sparkled.

He led me closer and closer to the muffled crackle of the flames, so close that I could feel the smoke brush my skin. I knew he could have killed me at any time, but the nearness of the fire still made me nervous.

"Sit here. Eyes closed."

The ground was warm from the sun and the fire. I kept very still and tried to concentrate on looking harmless, but I could feel his glare on me, and it made me agitated. Though I was not mad at these vampires, who I truly believed had only been defending themselves, I felt the oddest stirrings of fury. It was almost outside myself, as if it were some leftover echo from the battle that had just taken place.

The anger didn't make me stupid, though, because I was too sad—miserable to my core. Diego was aways in my mind, and I couldn't help thinking about how he must have died.

I was sure there was no way he would have voluntarily told Riley our secrets—secrets that had given me a reason to trust Riley just enough until it was too late. In my head, I saw Riley's face again—that cold, smooth expression that had formed as he'd threatened to punish any of us who wouldn't behave. I heard again his macabre and oddly detailed description—when I take you to her and hold you as she tears off your legs and then slowly, slowly burns off your fingers, ears, lips, tongue, and every other superfluous appendage one by one.

I realized now that I'd been hearing the description of Diego's death.

That night, I'd been sure that something had changed in Riley. Killing Diego was what had changed Riley, had hardened him. I believed only one thing that Riley had ever told me: he had valued Diego more than any of the rest of us. Had even been fond of him. And yet he'd watched our creator hurt him. No doubt he'd helped her. Killed Diego with her. I wondered how much pain it would have taken to make me betray Diego. I imagined it would have taken quite a lot. And I was sure it had taken at least that much to make Diego betray me.

I felt sick. I wanted the image of Diego screaming in agony out of my head, but it wouldn't leave. And then there was screaming there in the field.

My eyelids fluttered, but Jasper snarled furiously and I clenched them together at once. I'd seen nothing but heavy lavender smoke.

I heard shouting and a strange, savage howling. It was loud, and there was a lot of it. I couldn't imagine how a face would have to contort to create such a noise, and the not knowing made the sound more frightening. These yellow-eyed vampires were so different from the rest of us. Or different from me, I guess, since I was the only one left. Riley and our creator were long gone by now.

I heard names called, Jacob, Leah, Sam. There were lots of distinct voices, though the howls continued. Of course Riley had lied to us about the number of vampires here, too.

The sound of the howling tapered off until it was just one voice, one agonized, inhuman yowling that made me grit my teeth. I could see Diego's face so clearly in my mind, and the sound was like him screaming.

I heard Carlisle talking over the other voices and the howling. He was begging to look at something. "Please let me take a look. Please let me help." I didn't hear anyone arguing with him, but for some reason his tone made it sound like he was losing the dispute.

And then the yowling reached a strident new pitch, and suddenly Carlisle was saying "thank you" in a fervent voice, and under the yowl there was the sound of a lot of movement by a lot of bodies. Many heavy footsteps coming closer. I listened harder and heard something unexpected and impossible. Along with some heavy breathing—and I've never heard anyone in my coven breathe like that—there were dozens of deep thumping noises. Almost like… heartbeats. But definitely not human hearts. I knew that particular sound well. I sniffed hard, but the wind was blowing from the other direction, and I could only smell the smoke. Without a warning sound, something touched me, clapped down firmly on either side of my head. My eyes started open in panic as I lurched up, straining to jerk free of this hold, and instantly met Jasper's warning gaze about two inches from my face.

"Stop it," he snapped, yanking me back down on my butt. I could only just hear him, and I realized that his hands were sealed tight against my head, covering my ears entirely.

"Close your eyes," he instructed again, probably at a normal volume, but it was hushed for me.

I struggled to calm myself and shut my eyes again. There were things they didn't want me to hear, either. I could live with that—if it meant I could live.

For a second I saw Fred's face behind my eyelids. He had said he would wait for one day. I wondered if he would keep his word. I wished I could tell him the truth about the yellow-eyes, and how much more there seemed to be that we didn't know. This whole world that we really knew nothing about. It would be interesting to explore that world. Particularly with someone who could make me invisible and safe.

But Diego was gone. He wouldn't be coming to find Fred with me. That made imagining the future faintly repugnant.

I could still hear some of what was going on, but just the howling and a few voices. Whatever those weird thumping sounds had been, they were too muted now for me to examine them. I did make out the words when, a few minutes later, the Doctor said, "You have to…"—his voice was too low for a second, and then—"… from here now. If we could help we would, but we cannot leave." There was a growl, but it was oddly unmenacing. The yowling became a low whine that disappeared slowly, as if it was moving away from me.

It was quiet for a few minutes. I heard some low voices, Carlisle and Esme among them, but also some I didn't know. I wished I could smell something—the blindness combined with the muted sound left me straining for some source of sensory information. But all I could smell was the horribly sweet smoke.

There was one voice, higher and clearer than the others that I could hear most easily.

"Another five minutes," I heard whoever it was say. I was sure it was a girl who was speaking. "And Bella will open her eyes in thirty-seven seconds. I wouldn't doubt that she can hear us now."

I struggled again to smell something. More mumbling. I thought that one voice sounded off—I couldn't hear any ring to it at all. But I couldn't be sure with Jasper's hands so securely over my ears.

"Three minutes," the high, clear voice said.

Jasper's hands left my head.

"You'd better open your eyes now," he told me from a few steps away. The way he said this frightened me. I looked around myself quickly, searching for the danger hinted at in his tone. One whole field of my vision was obscured by the dark smoke. Close by, Jasper was frowning. His teeth were gritted together and he was looking at me with an expression that was almost… frightened. Not like he was scared of me, but like he was scared because of me. I remembered what he'd said before, about my putting them in danger with something called a Volturi. I wondered what a Volturi was. I couldn't imagine what this scarred-up, dangerous vampire would be afraid of.

The Doctor was kneeling on the ground, and next to him was a male vampire with dark red hair. Lying flat on the ground was another figure, but I couldn't see much of that one, only jeans and small brown boots. It was either a female or a young male. I wondered if they were putting the vampire back together.

So eight yellow-eyes total, plus all that howling before, whatever strange kind of vampire that had been; there had been at least eight more voices involved. Sixteen, maybe more. More than twice as many as Riley had told us to expect. I found myself fiercely hoping that those black-cloaked vampires would catch up to Riley, and that they would make him suffer.

The vampire on the ground started to get slowly to her feet—moving awkwardly, almost like she was some clumsy human.

The breeze shifted, blowing the smoke across me and Jasper. For a moment, everything was invisible except for him.

Though I was not as blind as before, I suddenly felt much more anxious, for some reason. It was like I could feel the anxiety bleeding out of the vampire next to me. The light wind gusted back in the next second, and I could see and smell everything.

Jasper hissed at me furiously and shoved me out of my crouch and back onto the ground.

It was her—the human I'd been hunting just a few minutes ago. The scent my whole body had been focused toward. The sweet, wet scent of the most delicious blood I'd ever tracked.

My mouth and throat felt like they were on fire. I tried wildly to hold on to my reason—to focus on the fact that Jasper was just waiting for me to jump up again so that he could kill me—but only part of me could do it. I felt like I was about to pull into two halves trying to keep myself here.

The human named Bella stared at me with stunned brown eyes. Looking at her made it worse. I could see the blood flushing through her thin skin. I tried to look anywhere else, but my eyes kept circling back to her.

The redhead spoke to her in a low voice. "She surrendered. That's one I've never seen before. Only Carlisle would think of offering. Jasper doesn't approve."

Carlisle must have explained to that one when my ears were covered.

The vampire had both his arms around the human girl, and she had both hands pressed to his chest. Her throat was just inches from his mouth, but she didn't look frightened of him at all. And he didn't look like he was hunting. I had tried to wrap my head around the idea of a coven with a pet human, but this was not close to what I had imagined. If she'd been a vampire, I would have guessed that they were together.

"Is Jasper all right?" the human whispered.

"He's fine. The venom stings," the vampire said.

"He was bitten?" she asked, sounding shocked by the idea.

Who was this girl? Why did the vampires allow her to be with them? Why hadn't they killed her yet? Why did she seem so comfortable with them, like they didn't scare her? She seemed like she was a part of this world, and yet she didn't understand its realities. Of course Jasper was bitten. He'd just fought—and destroyed Riley's entire coven. Did this girl even know what we were?

Ugh, the burn in my throat was impossible! I tried not to think about washing it away with her blood, but the wind was blowing her smell right in my face! It was too late to keep my head—I had scented the prey I was hunting, and nothing could change that now.

"He was trying to be everywhere at once," the redhead told the human. "Trying to make sure Alice had nothing to do, actually." He shook his head as he looked at the tiny blackhaired girl. "Alice doesn't need anyone's help."

Alice shot a glare at Jasper.

"Overprotective fool," she said in her clear soprano voice.

Jasper met her stare with a half smile, seeming to forget for a second that I existed.

I could barely fight the instinct that wanted me to make use of his lapse and spring at the human girl. It would take less than an instant and then her warm blood—blood I could hear pumping through her heart—would quench the burn. She was so close—

The vampire with the dark red hair met my eyes with a fierce warning glare, and I knew I would die if I tried for the girl, but the agony in my throat made me feel like I would die if I didn't. It hurt so much that I screamed out loud in frustration.

Jasper snarled at me, and I tried to keep myself from moving, but it felt like the scent of her blood was a giant hand yanking me off the ground. I had never tried to stop myself from feeding once I had committed to a hunt. I dug my hands into the ground looking for something to hold on to but finding nothing.

Jasper leaned into a crouch, and even knowing I was two seconds from death, I couldn't focus my thirsty thoughts.

And then Carlisle was right there, his hand on Jasper's arm.

He looked at me with kind, calm eyes. "Have you changed your mind, young one?" he asked me. "We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself."

"How can you stand it?" I asked him, almost begging. Wasn't he burning, too? "I want her." I stared at her, desperately wishing the distance between us was gone. My fingers raked uselessly through the rocky dirt.

"You must stand it," Carlisle said solemnly. "You must exercise control. It is possible, and it is the only thing that will save you now."

If being able to tolerate the human the way these strange vampires did was my only hope for survival, then I was already doomed. I couldn't stand the fire. And I was of two minds about survival anyway. I didn't want to die, I didn't want pain, but what was the point? Everyone else was dead. Diego had been dead for days.

His name was right on my lips. I almost whispered it aloud. Instead, I gripped my skull with both hands and tried to think about something that wouldn't hurt. Not the girl, and not Diego. It didn't work very well. "Shouldn't we move away from her?" the human whispered roughly, breaking my concentration. My eyes snapped back to her. Her skin was so thin and soft. I could see the pulse in her neck.

"We have to stay here," said the vampire she was clinging to. "They are coming to the north end of the clearing now."

They? I glanced to the north, but there was nothing but smoke. Did he mean Riley and my creator? I felt a new thrill of panic, followed by a little spasm of hope. There was no way she and Riley could stand against these vampires who had killed so many of us, was there? Even if the howly ones were gone, Jasper alone looked capable of dealing with the two of them.

Or did he mean this mysterious Volturi?

The wind teased the girl's scent across my face again, and my thoughts scattered. I glared at her thirstily. The girl met my stare, but her expression was so different from what it should have been. Though I could feel that my lips were curled back from my teeth, though I trembled with the effort to stop myself from springing at her, she did not look afraid of me. Instead she seemed fascinated. It almost looked like she wanted to speak to me—like she had a question she wanted me to answer.

Then Carlisle and Jasper began to back away from the fire—and me—closing ranks with the others and the human. They all were staring past me into the smoke, so whatever they were afraid of was closer to me than it was to them. I huddled tighter to the smoke in spite of the nearby flames. Should I make a run for it? Were they distracted enough that I could escape? Where would I go? To Fred? Off on my own? To find Riley and make him pay for what he'd done to Diego?

As I hesitated, mesmerized by that last idea, the moment passed. I heard movement to the north and knew I was sandwiched between the yellow-eyes and whatever was coming.

"Hmm," a dead voice said from behind the smoke.

In that one syllable I knew exactly who it was, and if I hadn't been frozen solid with mindless terror I would have bolted.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The Loophole

It was the dark-cloaks. What did this mean? Would a new battle begin now? I knew that the dark-cloaked vampires had wanted my creator to succeed in destroying these yellow-eyes. My creator had clearly failed. Did that mean they would kill her? Or would they kill Carlisle and Esme and the rest here instead? If it had been my choice, I knew who I would want destroyed, and it wasn't my captors.

The dark-cloaks ghosted through the vapor to face the yellow-eyes. None of them looked in my direction. I held absolutely still.

There were only four of them, like last time. But it didn't make a difference that there were seven of the yellow-eyes. I could tell that they were as wary of these dark-cloaks as Riley and my creator had been. There was something more to them than I could see, but I could definitely _feel_ it. These were the punishers, and they didn't lose.

"Welcome, Jane," said the yellow-eyed one who held the human.

They knew each other. But the redhead's voice was not friendly—nor was it weak and eager to please like Riley's had been, or furiously terrified like my creator's. His voice was simply cold and polite and unsurprised. Were the dark-cloaks this Volturi, then?

The small vampire who led the dark-cloaks—Jane, apparently—slowly scanned across the seven yellow-eyes and the human, and then finally turned her head toward me. I caught a glimpse of her face for the first time. She was younger than me, but much older, too, I guessed. Her eyes were the velvet color of dark red roses. Knowing it was too late to escape notice, I put my head down, covering it with my hands. Maybe if it were clear that I didn't want to fight, Jane would treat me as Carlisle had. I didn't feel much hope of that, though. "I don't understand." Jane's dead voice betrayed a hint of annoyance.

"She has surrendered," the redhead explained.

"Surrendered?" Jane snapped.

I peeked up to see the dark-cloaks exchanging glances. The redhead had said that he'd never seen anyone surrender before. Maybe the dark-cloaks hadn't, either.

"Carlisle gave her the option," the redhead said. He seemed to be the spokesperson for the yellow-eyes, though I thought Carlisle might be the leader.

"There are no options for those who break the rules," Jane said, her voice dead again.

My bones felt like ice, but I didn't feel panicked anymore. It all seemed so inevitable now.

Carlisle answered Jane in a soft voice. "That's in your hands. As long as she was willing to halt her attack on us, I saw no need to destroy her. She was never taught."

Though his words were neutral, I almost thought he was pleading for me. But, as he had said, my fate was not up to him.

"That is irrelevant," Jane confirmed.

"As you wish."

Jane was staring at Carlisle with an expression that was half confusion and half frustration. She shook her head, and her face was unreadable again. "Aro hoped that we would get far enough west to see you, Carlisle," she said. "He sends his regards."

"I would appreciate it if you would convey mine to him," he answered.

Jane smiled. "Of course." Then she looked at me again, with the corners of her mouth still slightly holding the smile. "It appears that you've done our work for us today… for the most part. Just out of professional curiosity, how many were there? They left quite a wake of destruction in Seattle."

She spoke of jobs and professionals. I was right, then, that it was her profession to punish. And if there were punishers, then there must be rules. Carlisle had said before, _We follow their_ _rules_ , and also, _There is no law against creating vampires if_ _you control them_. Riley and my creator had been afraid but not exactly surprised by the arrival of the dark-cloaks, these Volturi. They knew about the laws, and they knew they were breaking them. Why hadn't they told us? And there were more Volturi than just these four. Someone named Aro and probably many more. There must have been a lot for everyone to fear them so much.

Carlisle answered Jane's question. "Eighteen, including this one." There was a barely audible murmur among the four darkcloaks.

"Eighteen?" Jane repeated, a note of surprise in her voice.

Our creator had never told Jane how many of us she'd created. Was Jane really surprised, or just faking it?

"All brand-new," Carlisle said. "They were unskilled."

Unskilled and uninformed, thanks to Riley. I was beginning to get a sense of how these older vampires viewed us.

 _Newborn_ , Jasper had called me. Like a baby.

"All?" Jane snapped. "Then who was their creator?" As if they hadn't already been introduced. This Jane was a bigger liar than Riley, and she was so much better at it than he was.

"Her name was Victoria," the redhead answered.

How did he know that when even _I_ didn't? I remembered that Riley had said there was a mind reader in this group. Was that how they knew everything? Or was that another of Riley's lies? "Was?" Jane asked.

The redhead jerked his head toward the east like he was pointing. I looked up and saw a cloud of thick lilac smoke billowing from the side of the mountain.

 _Was._ I felt a similar kind of pleasure to what I'd felt imagining the big vampire shredding Raoul. Only much, much greater.

"This Victoria," Jane asked slowly. "She was in addition to the eighteen here?"

"Yes," the redhead confirmed. "She had only one other with her. He was not as young as this one here, but no older than a year."

Riley. My fierce pleasure intensified. If—okay, _when_ —I died today, at least I didn't leave that loose thread. Diego had been avenged. I almost smiled.

"Twenty," Jane breathed. Either this was more than she had expected, or she was a killer actress. "Who dealt with the creator?"

"I did," the redhead said coldly.

Whoever this vampire was, whether he kept a pet human or not, he was a friend of mine. Even if he were the one to kill me in the end, I would still owe him.

Jane turned to stare at me with narrowed eyes.

"You there," she snarled. "Your name."

I was dead anyway, according to her. So why give this lying vampire anything she wanted? I just glared at her.

Jane smiled at me, the bright, happy smile of an innocent child, and suddenly I was on fire. It was like I'd gone back in time to the worst night of my life. Fire was in every vein of my body, covering every inch of my skin, gnawing through the marrow of every bone. It felt like I was buried in the middle of my coven's funeral bonfire, with the flames on every side. There wasn't a single cell in my body that wasn't blazing with the worst agony imaginable. I could barely hear myself scream over the pain in my ears.

"Your name," Jane said again, and as she spoke the fire disappeared. Gone like that, as if I'd only been imagining it.

"Bree," I said as fast as I could, still gasping though the pain wasn't there anymore.

Jane smiled again and the fire was everywhere. How much pain would it take before I would die of it? The screams didn't even feel like they were coming from me anymore. Why wouldn't someone rip my head off? Carlisle was kind enough for that, wasn't he? Or whoever their mind reader was. Couldn't he or she understand and _make this stop_?

"She'll tell you anything you want to know," the redhead growled. "You don't have to do that."

The pain vanished again, like Jane had turned off a light switch. I found myself facedown on the ground, panting as if I needed air.

"Oh, I know," I heard Jane say cheerfully. "Bree?"

I shuddered when she called my name, but the pain didn't start again.

"Is his story true?" she asked me. "Were there twenty of you?"

The words flew out of my mouth. "Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I don't know! Sara and the one whose name I don't know got in a fight on the way…."

I waited for the pain to punish me for not having a better answer, but instead Jane spoke again.

"And this Victoria—did she create you?"

"I don't know," I admitted fearfully. "Riley never said her name. I didn't see that night… it was so dark, and it hurt!" I flinched. "He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said that our thoughts weren't safe."

Jane shot a glance at the redhead, then looked at me again.

"Tell me about Riley," Jane said. "Why did he bring you here?"

I recited Riley's lies as quickly as I could. "Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yellow-eyes here. He said it would be easy. He said that the city was theirs, and they were coming to get us. He said once they were gone, all the blood would be ours. He gave us her scent." I pointed in the human's direction. "He said we would know that we had the right coven, because she would be with them. He said whoever got to her first could have her."

"It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part," Jane said, a hint of teasing in her tone.

It seemed like Jane was pleased with my story. In a flash of insight, I understood that she was relieved Riley hadn't told me or the others about her little visit to our creator. Victoria. This was the story she wanted the yellow-eyes to know—the story that didn't implicate Jane or the dark-cloaked Volturi. Well, I could play along. Hopefully the mind reader was already in the know. I couldn't physically take revenge on this monster, but I could tell the yellow-eyes everything with my thoughts. I hoped. I nodded, agreeing with Jane's little joke, and sat up because I wanted the mind reader's attention, whoever that was. I continued with the version of the story that any other member of my coven would have been able to give. I pretended I was Kevin. Dumb as a bag of rocks and totally ignorant.

"I don't know what happened." That part was true. The mess on the battlefield was still a mystery. I'd never seen any of Kristie's group. Did the secret howler vampires get them? I would keep that secret for the yellow-eyes. "We split up, but the others never came. And Riley left us, and he didn't come to help like he promised. And then it was so confusing, and everybody was in pieces." I flinched at the memory of the torso I'd hurdled. "I was afraid. I wanted to run away." I nodded at Carlisle. "That one said they wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting."

This wasn't betraying Carlisle in any way. He'd already told Jane as much.

"Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one," Jane said. She sounded like she was enjoying herself. "Broken rules demand a consequence."

Still pretending I was Kevin, I just stared at her as if I were too stupid to understand.

Jane looked at Carlisle. "Are you sure you got all of them? The other half that split off?"

Carlisle nodded. "We split up, too."

So it _was_ the howlers that got Kristie. I hoped that, whatever else they were, the howlers were really, really terrifying. Kristie deserved that.

"I can't deny that I'm impressed," Jane said, sounding sincere, and I thought that this was probably the truth. Jane had been hopeful that Victoria's army would do some damage here, and we'd clearly failed.

"Yes," the three vampires behind Jane all agreed quietly.

"I've never seen a coven escape this magnitude of offensive intact," Jane continued. "Do you know what was behind it? It seems like extreme behavior, considering the way you live here. And why was the girl the key?" Her eyes flicked to the human for just a moment.

"Victoria held a grudge against Bella," the redhead told her.

So the strategy finally made sense. Riley just wanted the girl dead and didn't care how many of us died to get it done.

Jane laughed happily. "This one"—and she smiled at the human the way she'd smiled at me—"seems to bring out bizarrely strong reactions in our kind."

Nothing happened to the girl. Maybe Jane didn't want to hurt her. Or maybe her horrible talent only worked on vampires.

"Would you please not do that?" the redhead asked in a controlled but furious voice.

Jane laughed again. "Just checking. No harm done, apparently."

I tried to keep my expression Kevin-ish and not betray my interest. So Jane couldn't hurt this girl the way she'd hurt me, and this was not a normal thing for Jane. Though Jane was laughing about it, I could tell it was driving her crazy. Was this why the human girl was tolerated by the yellow-eyes? But if she was special in some way, why didn't they just change her into a vampire?

"Well, it appears that there's not much left for us to do," Jane said, her voice a dead monotone again. "Odd. We're not used to being rendered unnecessary. It's too bad we missed the fight. It sounds like it would have been entertaining to watch."

"Yes," the redhead retorted. "And you were so close. It's a shame you didn't arrive just a half hour earlier. Perhaps then you could have fulfilled your purpose here."

I fought a smile. So the redhead was the mind reader, and he'd heard everything I'd wanted him to hear. Jane wasn't getting away with anything.

Jane stared back at the mind reader with a blank expression. "Yes. Quite a pity how things turned out, isn't it?"

The mind reader nodded, and I wondered what he was hearing in Jane's head.

Jane turned her blank face to me now. There was nothing in her eyes, but I could feel that my time had run out. She'd gotten what she needed from me. She didn't know that I'd also given the mind reader everything I could. And protected his coven's secrets, too. I owed him that. He'd punished Riley and Victoria for me.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and thought,

 _Thanks_.

"Felix?" Jane said lazily.

"Wait," the mind reader said loudly.

He turned to Carlisle and spoke quickly. "We could explain the rules to the young one. She doesn't seem unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing."

"Of course," Carlisle said eagerly, looking at Jane. "We would certainly be prepared to take responsibility for Bree." I was touched to the core. These vampires were strangers, but they'd gone out on this dangerous limb for me. I already knew it wasn't going to work, but still.

Jane laughed. "You can't be serious."

"She didn't know what she was doing. She is willing to learn our ways and she won't get into any trouble." The mind reader explained.

"She will expose our kind to the world. It is better if we do away with her." Jane sneered. I was convinced that this was a fruitless endeavor. It was obvious that Jane wanted to kill me.

"No she won't" came a voice from the rear of the group. It was Alice. She must be the psychic. Could she really see a different future for me other than death? "If you let her live, Jane, she actually won't hurt any more humans."

"And how would you know this?" she asked skeptically.

"She's afraid of them," the mind reader said calmly. My eyes became riveted on him. "She's been abused all of her life. She's actually afraid to go near them. She's never hunted before. Someone always brought her back something to feed off of. She harmless."

How did he know that? I mean I knew he was a mind reader but I wasn't thinking about my past. How would he know something like that when I've never told anyone about it? Jane looked from me to the mind reader. She acted like she was trying to decide if she was buying the story.

Carlisle spoke up again. "If you'll remember Jane, I was there when several of our rules were created. I remember one distinctly stated that every vampire had the right to learn the rules and how to conceal themselves. It's obvious that Bree hasn't had that opportunity. Would you truly condemn a child who had no opportunity to learn?

Silence was pregnant in the air. It seemed almost wrong to make a sound.

It was one of the dark cloaks that spoke first. "What are your orders, Jane?"

Jane's eyes rested on me and was sure she was going to pass the sentence to kill me. Or burn me again. "Leave her. Let the Cullens keep their pet. Although Caius will be interested to know that she is still human."

"The date is set," Alice said.

Jane narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Fine. Let's go home."

I watched in stunned silence as the dark cloaks marched away from the field. I just couldn't believe that I was still alive! How do you like them apples? But before I could start celebrating, Jasper stooped down and grabbed me. It was so sudden and unexpected that let out a scream.

"Jasper don't you're hurting her!" It was the beautiful, tall, blonde chick. Why would she be coming to my rescue?

"Rosalie, she'll go for Bella. We need to keep her contained until after Edward gets her out of here"

"Jasper, she'll be fine." It was the dark haired girl again. "She won't hurt her."

"Alice-" Jasper began before he was cut off.

"She promised Carlisle that she would control herself. If we can get some blood in her system soon, then everything will be fine. I bet that her and Bella will be able to be in the same room before the week is out."

"Are you sure, Alice?" the mind reader asked.

"What was it you once told Bella about our kind…mind over matter? She'll be fine. You just have to learn to trust her."

I watched them through the entire conversation, wondering if they would truly believe that I wouldn't hurt anybody anymore. The mind reader must have heard my musings because he turned to me and watched my face. I stared back for as long as I could, but his face was so intense that my small dash of courage vanished relatively quickly. 'Let her go, Jasper." The mind reader said. "Her thoughts are pure. But just to be safe, I'm taking Bella away now. You guys will have to take Bree another direction when you hunt."

I felt Jasper loosen his grips and I flung myself away from him, ending up cowering behind a bush. Emmett began laughing. "I don't think I've ever seen a scared little vampire. This could be fun."

"If you had gone through what she's has, Emmett," the mind reader began, taking the human by the hand and leading her away from me, "you wouldn't be so tough yourself."

Again, how did he know all of this stuff? I wasn't thinking about it. Although I said that he would be my friend, he was acting very freaky. More freaky than Fred.

The Doctor dropped down next to me and offered me his hand. "Bree, none of us will hurt you. You are safe with us. You just have to promise that you will listen and obey."

Once again I felt safe when I was around him. I hardly felt shy, but still nervous. Jasper was still glaring at me. I nodded my head. "I promise." Carlisle smiled and helped me out of the bushes. "May I ask one question though?"

The Doctor looked at me and nodded.

"Don't think that I'm going to go after her, but why is the human so precious to the mind reader? Her throat was so close, why didn't he kill her?"

The Doctor sighed. "Bella is Edward's mate. He would never do anything to hurt her again. If you are going to stay with us, you have to exercise control. If you harm Bella in anyway, the deal is off and we will kill you."

I swallowed, not because I needed to but because I saw it in a movie once and I always wanted to do it. It was an unconscious thing and as soon as it was over, I realized how ridiculous I looked. Emmett laughed again and so did Alice and Rosalie. The Doctor smiled at me. "I have to go down to the reservation to check Jacob. Alice, I'm sure you have plans to make Bella over. You and Esme go on ahead. Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper will take this young one hunting."

Alice took Esme by the hand and began leading her down the same path that Edward Bella. "Everything is going to be fine, you'll see. I'll call you Jasper when Bella is gone."

And just like that they were gone.

The Doctor looked at the remaining three vampires before he looked at me. Putting his hands on my shoulders, he looked deep into my eyes and said, "Good luck, young one." Then he turned to the others. "After you've hunted, I want to have a family meeting." They nodded and we all watched as Carlisle took a different path out of the meadow that smelt a little bit of wet dog.

When he was gone, Jasper turned to me and said, "Okay, let's get you fed." With that, Emmett and Rosalie took off running into the forest. Jasper continued to glare at me and nodded his head in the direction that the other two had gone. I assumed that was meant for me to follow. I huffed and ran after their trail. I didn't know what the future held, but one thing was for sure, Jasper hated me and didn't think that I should live. I would have to watch out for him. He would easily find any excuse to kill me, and contrary to what the mind reader thought, I didn't want to die. At least not yet.

 **Author's Note:** So I guess I should introduce myself. I've been writing stories since before I could remember and only recently have I had the nerve to try and publish something. For most of my life I've been told that I don't have the talent to write so reading your comments have been very encouraging. I'm going to try and post once a week since I've made a goal to finish this story by the end of the year. Trust me, this story has been in my head for a long time…I just haven't wrote it down yet so if you really like this story I'll try to write faster. You guys are great and thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Learning the Ropes

"This…is how you live?"

We were standing in the forest, well camouflaged by the vegetation that was around us. Up ahead in the clearing was a large herd of Elk. Jasper had just pointed to them and told me to "have at it." I just stood there on the spot and stared at them like they were idiots. Rosalie spoke to me first. "It's really easy. All you have to do is follow your instincts."

"But you really drink deer blood?" When I heard the dark cloaks say it to Riley and our Creator, I thought they were just kidding.

"We could always try for mountain lion or a nice big grizzly bear," Emmett commented. "Much more tastier and satisfying than a couple of deer any ol' day." Over the last twenty minutes I had come to realize that he wasn't as ferocious as I thought. Sure he could still rip me apart in one swipe but he acted like a lovable teddy bear.

"Grizzly is harder to track, Emmett." Jasper said exasperated. "Bree needs to have a lot of substance before she goes back to the house."

Finally, it dawned on me. "This is why you have yellow eyes! You only feed off of animals."

Rosalie smiled at me. "Yes. We call ourselves vegetarians because we don't partake in human blood."

I nodded and looked down at the herd. "Are you sure I'll know what to do?" I had already explained to them that Diego would bring me back something . This was my first hunting trip and apart of me wanted to prove to them, and myself, that I could do this. That I didn't have to be a liability. That I could take care of myself.

"Don't worry kid," Emmett said. "There's no way you could mess things up."

So with nothing left in my arsenal to complain about, I took a deep breath, crouched down low, and stalked down the mountainside towards my pray. A large buck was standing at the edge of the clearing eating the tall grass. He didn't notice me as I came up from behind him and to his left. I watched as the muscles in his jaw and neck worked to digest the cud of grass in his mouth. Before the wind could shift, I lunged and sank my teeth into his neck, right where the arteries were and drank. As soon as the blood hit my mouth I choked, spewing blood down my chin while the artery began squirting the front of my shirt. The elk began to struggle and kicked me off his back. I landed hard on my backside with a loud thump and the elk tried to squirm away. It bellowed, alerting the others in the herd which they all began to scatter. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and made to get up when Jasper came up behind me and pushed me back to the ground. He then grabbed the neck of the elk, who was making quite a fuss in its final death throws, and snapped it like it was a twig. Glaring at me, he bent over and finished what I had started.

Rosalie and Emmett caught six all together as the herd made their mad escape from the crazy hippie vampires. When Jasper was finished, he sat on the grass and glared at me. Sorry buddy that this is my first time hunting a wooly, four legged creature. I thought ruefully to myself. I was beginning to thing that Jasper and I were never going to get along.

Emmett was the first to finish. As he lumbered over to where Jasper and I were having our staring context, I could hear him laughing at me. "Tell me girl," he said as he sat next to his hostile coven mate. "Is that how Riley taught you to hunt? Cuz we've got a lot of work to do." He continued to laugh as Rosalie sat down next to him, giving me a half smile.

"I didn't exactly hunt while I was in Seattle." I didn't want to associate myself with Riley's coven anymore. It hurt to much to think about what he did to me. "Not much of a vampire am I." I looked away from Jasper then, feeling the familiar pangs of shame that I was so used to.

"Nothing we can't fix." Emmett commented nonchalantly. "Ask me one question. Do you want to be a monster, Bree?"

I looked at him and Rosalie. "No."

"Then just think of that when you go for the kill. Its a way of survival. Doesn't taste all that great, but at least you're not killing innocent people."

Rosalie smiled up at Emmett. "That was very profound, babe."

Emmett grinned. "Thanks! Been reading some of Edward's philosophy books."

"We need to find the herd again," Jasper cut in standing up and scanning the surrounding area. "She needs to hunt before she can be anywhere near Bella's scent."

Rosalie rolled her eyes while Emmett continued to grin at me. He helped her up as I got to my feet. Jasper was already off looking for the herd. They hadn't gone too far since it took us five minutes to locate them again. Jasper gestured for me to continue the hunt. "What, you want me to repeat that performance back there? You better tell me what to do so we're not at this all night."

"Chicks got a point bro," Emmett said. "You'd better walk her through the basics."

Jasper huffed like this was such a great burden. "Its instinct really. You did everything you were supposed to back there. Just don't throw up this time."

I glared at him. "That's all you're going to tell me?"

He shrugged again. "Practice makes perfect. Your instincts already knows what to do. Try it again."

I looked to the other two for help, but they both nodded. Pissed that they wouldn't help me, I trudged off into the brush. The nearest one, a doe, was two yards off by my estaminet. Before she could realize the danger, I ran towards her. Quickly, I jumped on her back, severing the spinal column and began to drink. Everything in me wanted to choke it back up again, and some of the blood spilled out of my mouth since I was having a hell of a time keeping my lips sealed around her neck. She didn't struggle as much as the elk did and within moments she was gone. I pushed her body aside and turned to the others. They were waiting for me, sitting on a pile of rocks. Emmett and Rosalie were holding hands and as a got near Emmett got up off the rocks and helped Rosalie down, and wrapped his arm around her. It was so casual it caught me off guard..

"Are you two together?" I asked.

They both laughed. "Yeah, Emmett's my mate. We're married you see." Rosalie smiled.

I raised my eyebrow. "But we were told you're siblings."

"That's the public story that we give so we can blend in." Rosalie said with an actual smile on her face. "Jasper and Alice, Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and I are all mate. So are Edward and Bella for that matter."

Emmett's voice boomed, "looks like you're going to be the odd man out this time. He laughed like it was a joke and even Jasper cracked a smile.

"Do you think you're finished, Bree?"

I felt discussed by the thought of hunting more elk. "If I said yes, do we have to continue?"

"No," Jasper spoke. "Do you feel like you just ate Thanksgiving Dinner?" Rosalie prompted, trying to be helpful.

"Yeah," I lied. Jasper looked at me like he could tell that wasn't the truth. I brushed it off, trying to look normal. "I'm full."

"You did better this time," Rosalie offered. I was beginning to like her.

Emmett took Rosalie's hand and they took off to the west. Jasper motioned for me to join them. I guess he wanted to follow me again. As I walked past him, he stared me down, distrust and resentment evident on his face. He made me feel like a prisoner, more than guest to the coven.

We traveled fro several miles with no one talking before I heard Jasper grunt. "What has gotten into you, Rosalie? You hardly like anyone yet you're happy that she's with us now. You're never like this when Bella's around."

Rosalie glared at Jasper. "You of all people should understand. Even I can feel how scared and confused she is. Carlisle offered her a new and different life. She didn't choose to be like this, so the least we can do is make her feel happy."

"She should have died with the rest of the newborns," Jasper grumbled. "Now the Volturi will be watching our every move, just waiting for her to mess up." He turned to me. "And if she's so scared, she's sure capable of giving me an attitude."

"The Volturi has been watching us since Edward went to Italy," Emmett pointed out. "I think it will be fun having two newborns to watch over. Just think Jasper of all the adventures we can have."

"This existence isn't supposed to be one big play time. We have to be responsible and make sure that no harm comes to the ones we love." Jasper said to Emmett.

"Why can't she be one of the ones we love," Emmett looked at me and grinned. If I hadn't been still a little frightened that he would hurt me, I would hug him right now.

Rosalie, on the other hand, lay in on Jasper. "She's just a child. She didn't know the rules or what she was doing. Stop being so hard on her. You're giving her attitude as well."

"Someone needs to make sure she stays in line!" Jasper yelled.

"She's too afraid to step out of line!" Rosalie fired back.

"Stop it!" I yelled. "Stop fighting." I glared at all of them. "I'm sorry I was a part of the coven that tried to destroy you all, but in my defense, I didn't want any of this." Turning to Rosalie, I explained the rest. I figured she would be my ally. "I don't want to be a monster. I never really belonged anywhere and I most definitely didn't in Seattle. The only good thing that came out of all this is I got away from Him." I had become so empowered by my little speech that I forgot I wasn't supposed to say anything about that. Embarrassed, I looked away.

Rosalie was the one that came over and touched my arm. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Fine," I said quickly still not looking at them. "I just don't want to talk about it."

"You know," Emmett began. "It's really hard to keep a secret in this family with Edward's mind reading and Alice seeing the future." Then he smirked at Jasper. "Not to mention you making everyone feel like they want to spill their guts."

Jasper rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Rosalie must have understood what I was going through because she quieted the boys, then put her arm around me. "Would it help if Carlisle was there when you talked? I'm sure he and Esme will understand things."

I remembered the feelings I had when Carlisle and Esme had offered me the chance to live. If the truth was known, I was jealous of this coven. They had people that loved them and everyone acted like a family. Something I've always wanted. As I watched Rosalie, I felt the same way I did with her that I did with Carlisle and Esme. Nodding I looked at Rosalie questioningly. "Can I ask you a question?"

Rosalie smiled pleasantly. "Of course Bree."

"It's actually Jasper's question. Why do you like me?"

She didn't look at me then, instead turning to Emmett. Smiling at her husband she touched his face tenderly. "You look like Emmett."

I didn't get what that had to do with anything.

Then the phone rang.

Jasper pulled it out of his pocket while I watched the other two make goggly eyes at each other.

"Alice, is she gone?"

"Yeah, she just left for Charlie's," came the voice on the other end. I recognized that it sounded like the little black haired girl. "Carlisle is on his way here. He should get here before you. Make sure Bree is properly feed before she gets here. I don't see her doing anything but it's good to be safe."

Jasper looked over at the three of us and chuckled. "How does the conversation go?"

"Which one?"

"The one you're most excited about."

There was a pause for a moment the, "Perfect! I can't wait to tell Esme!" Then the phone went dead and Jasper chuckled again. Well that was cryptic. How many conversations was I supposed have with these people. I still wanted to find Fred.

"She gets over excited sometimes," Jasper said wryly

"Sometimes," Emmett scoffed.

Jasper just rolled his eyes, then glared at me. He did this a lot I'm starting to think it was his favorite hobby. "Shall we go home?"

The boys lead the way home. When we got a hundred feet from the property, I began to recognize their scent. After the four of us cleared the river, Jasper created a cage with his arms around me. I struggled, only because my instinct told me that this was supposed to be a threatening gesture. He just held tighter and growled. This was beginning to become annoying. Rosalie rolled her eyes at him. "Jasper, give her a break."

"Bella's scent is all over here. Her instincts could kick in and she'll follow the trail."

Before I could defend myself, the back door to the house opened and the mind reader, Edward, walked out on to a wide, wooden, porch balcony. "Her thoughts are clean, Jasper. And Alice doesn't see her doing anything. Give it a rest."

Jasper reluctantly let go, but stayed by my side while we crossed their vast lawn. The house was huge. Built in a rectangular frame structure, I could tell that the siding was white. But the whole back side of the house was open like a giant window. I could see into every room that wasn't drawn by a curtain. Although it looked really cool, I don't think that I could be that open. I liked to have my privacy. The top part of the house, just before the roof was sided off with only picture windows. I looked to be three stories up. The back side of the house looked very lovely and well cared for. Like, perhaps, someone knew what they were doing.

There were flower gardens everywhere. Every shape, color, and kind were scattered all over in well, landscaped plots and hanging baskets. It was mesmerizing. I'd only seen yards like this when I would have to walk home from school through the "Ritz Carlton" portion of town-as He used to call it-because the school bus wouldn't get me close enough to the other side of the tracks. "I am not in Kansas anymore, Toto." I uttered to no one in particular. Of course, Emmett got a kick out of that.

"Can we keep her," he asked Rosalie as he opened the door, like I was a puppy being brought home for the first time. She giggled and followed Jasper into the house.

I was the last one in the house. If I thought that the outside was beautiful, I was proven wrong when I looked around. We had entered through the back door. The tiny hall way lead to both another door which I assumed was to the garage and to the kitchen. Along the walls were pegs where you could put your coat and a shoe rack held an assortment of every shape, size, and variety of shoes on this planet. I followed the others through a door which led to the kitchen. Everything was so clean. The granite countertops sparkled along with all the stainless steel appliances. I wondered why on earth vampires need to have top of the line appliances when they didn't even need to use them. Edward chuckled. "We have to blend in somehow. People would start suspecting something if we never went to the store."

"But doesn't the food spoil?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "Bella eats here and what we don't use we donate to the local food pantry."

That made sense, as insane as it seemed. And I felt a little spark of gratitude swell in my heart of the thought of them giving to charity. Edward and Jasper seemed to notice something had resonated with me, but before they could say anything, I pushed past, avoiding eye contact. They didn't need to know anything about me. They wouldn't care.

"Everyone is in the dining room," Edward said nodding for me to follow the others into the next room. "We need to start the family meeting before Bella gets home from seeing Jake."

I watched his face for a moment. The way he talked about her, like she was his whole world. I'd only seen that kind of look from TV store windows in the off chance they were playing day time soap operas. "You really do love her, don't you?" I said it before I could stop myself.

In return, he gave me a crocked little smile. "She's my everything. I don't know what I would do without her and frankly I don't want to try that again. I asked her to be my wife the other day and she said yes."

"Congratulations!" I said only because I think that's what you're supposed to do to be polite. It felt artificial. I had been apart of the coven who tried to take away " his everything" as he put it. These people saved my life, there was no way I was going to mess that up and give Jasper a reason to rip my throat out, but it still felt phony. Especially since Bella was here first and she was going to be Edward's wife.

"Thank you," Edward smiled. "Now let's go."

Everyone was seated around a beautiful, antique, oak table. Carlisle was back from helping the guy named Jacob. He was sitting at the head with Esme to his right. The rest sat randomly around it, but I noticed that Jasper sat next to Alice and Emmett had his arm around Rosalie, again. Edward sat on the opposite side of Carlisle. There was an open chair next to Esme. She smiled at me and patted the chair. Once again, I felt comfort in being around her. Like I wanted to receive nothing but comfort from her, let her hold me in her arms. Where was this coming from?

As I sat down, Carlisle began speaking to me. "So Bree, how did you like our hunting style?"

"It's weird." No sense beating around the bush.

Carlisle chuckled. "It takes some getting used to. Everyone here has had to take time getting used to it."

"Do I have to live this way?"

Carlisle placed his hand on the table clasped together like he was a great disciplinary. "Not if you don't want to stay with us. If you go off on your own you can do as you please. But here we live this way. Its more humane."

I looked around the table and nodded.

"We all want you to feel safe and comfortable while you are here." I ducked my head at his comment. "So let's begin the meeting so Edward can go to Bella. Bree, I'm sure Riley explained to you the rules."

To tell you the truth, the only time I heard about these rules was a couple of hours ago. I shook my head no and looked down at my lap.

Edward must have read my mind. "She's never heard of any rules until just now."

I thought Carlisle would be shocked but he just nodded his head understanding. "Well then, I guess we will begin from the top. The first and number one rule is you cannot expose who we are. As fat as the world needs to know, vampires are to remain a myth." That made sense to me, since this was probably why us newborns were hunted down by both the Volturi and the Cullens.

"Second, the Children of the Moon are not to be dealt with unless it is to exterminate them."

He lost me there. "What the hell is the Children of the Moon?"

"Werewolves," Edward interjected. My mind flashed to the sound of the wolf-like snarling from this morning. "Yes," Edward answered my unspoken question. "But the wolf pack aren't actually werewolves."

Emmett interrupted, "What are they then?"

"Don't know," Edward replied. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Can we continue, Carlisle?" Jasper prompted like an impatient child. From across the table, Esme gave him a look.

"Bearing false witness is prohibited." Now I wasn't religious but that one sounded a lot like a commandment. From the big, Holy book itself the parol officers were always trying to throw at me. Edward smiled in my direction. "Hunting is forbidden in Volterra, the town of residence for the Volturi. They usually bring food from the outside in. I will tell you more about that history when we have more time to talk."

I nodded, not sure if there will be more time.

"If you decide that you don't want to stay with us, hunts must be inconspicuous, with victims unlikely to be missed. You must dispose of their remains and your territory must be changed often. Also, since this pertains to you, newborns must be trained before they can be released on their own."

Keeping my eyes in my lap, I barely raised my voice to ask, "Do I have to leave here?"

Esme answered me this time. "You can stay as long as you wish to, dear. We would love to take care of you."

She was smiling at me and I couldn't help but smile back at her. It was loving, without judgment. I wasn't used to the feeling inside me that I got every time she looked at me like that. Again, I wanted her to hold me.

"Finally," Carlisle continued by putting his arm around Esme, "rebellion against the Volturi is absolutely prohibited." He looked straight at me. "I know that this is a lot to take in and may be overwhelming, but all of us are here to help you and want you to be here."

I nodded and looked around the table. "A lot of rules pertaining to getting on the Volturi's bad side," I said absently. "Who are they to make all these rules?"

"Their sort of like the royal family of our kind," Carlisle explained. "They're the governing force for our world."

"Don't they get in trouble, though?"

"No," Jasper scoffed.

"That seems strange," Considering they break all of these rules themselves.

"What are you up to, Bree?" Edward asked warningly.

"Nothing, I promise." I defended myself. Jasper glared daggers at me and Edward persisted to look at me like I was trying to cover up a secret. I guess I might as well tell them. "It's just that, one night me and a couple of my friends over heard an interesting conversation."

"What was it?" Rosalie asked acting like I had a hot topic of gossip.

I looked at my lap again, feeling shy. "Riley and our creator were talking to the dark cloaks. The girl, Jane I think, was telling them all sorts of stories about the yellow eyes."

"What kind of stories?" Jasper asked already sensing my discomfort.

"That the leader was a doctor and he thought that he could play God while denying his basic need for survival. They also told them how you feed. Personally I was a little skeptic about that until this afternoon."

"Was there anything else?" Carlisle didn't seemed to disturbed since most of these were true.

I looked over at Edward and sent a silent "I'm sorry," before I continued. "They said that Edward kept the human around only so he could fornicate with her." The girls gasped and Alice hissed while Emmett swore under his breath. But the look on Edward's face told me that that wasn't the truth and he was deeply upset. "I'm sorry," I said hastily. "But if that's not "Bearing false witness," then I don't know what is."

"Thank you, Bree." Carlisle put a hand on Edward's shoulder, who looked like he was beginning to calm down. I wondered if Jasper was using his special talent. I looked away again, wishing that I could go run and hide.

"She wanted the newborns to succeed in killing you," I said softly. "Even if these vampires are the "Royal Family" like you say, I wouldn't trust them."

"Thank you, Bree. It was Edward this time. "I know you're just trying to help and I appreciate that."

I gave him a soft smile.

"Well there is nothing we can do now," Carlisle said. "I think we should decide if Bree should become a part of our family." For a moment, I felt myself panic before I felt a little wave of calm. I glanced over at Jasper and saw him watching me. I think I tried to smile but it came out as a grimace.

"I would love to see Bree join our family," Esme said patting my arm.

"So would I," Rosalie smiled at me.

Emmett laughed. "I think it will be fun having two newborns to watch over."

"I don't see a problem," Edward this time and I hoped that I didn't hurt him to bad. I really did want to be his friend.

"You know my thoughts" Jasper stated. I watched Emmett role his eyes.

Alice's eyes were unfocused. "I don't have a problem. But it seems that Bree is holding back on us." Her eyes focused again, this time on me. "She hasn't told us everything."

Carlisle looked at me. "Is there something more you'd like to say, Bree?"

I looked at my hands again, not knowing how to proceed. "I just promised a friend that I would meet him if I survived the fight. He should know all of this you told me."

"We'd be happy to talk to him," Carlisle stated.

"I know, but Fred is kind of…special. I should go find him and talk to him."

"We can go with you," Esme said smiling. Dammit what was with her smile. It made my insides go mushy.

"He'd only trust me."

"That's okay. We want to help," Carlisle smile didn't have the same effect, but it was comforting.

I looked to Carlisle, hoping he'd understand. "I don't know what to think or do. I'm not the greatest at making decisions."

Carlisle continued to look at me, his amber eyes were solace to my aching soul. "Let's talk to Fred and then we'll talk about the next step for you, whether its here with us, or on your own with Fred."

"Thank you," was all I could say, easily holding back the tears that my vampiric little self couldn't produce.

 **Author's Note:** So this week was crazy busy with work and next week is going to be even more insane cuz not only do I work almost every day, but my semi-adopted sister is getting married. So give me some time and I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can. Thanks for being patient and for your support. During my brief time as a creative writing major in college, I was told that I had no talent. You guys are great and I appreciate the love. One day I'm hoping to publish a book and show those professors a thing or two so your kind words are greatly appreciated.

~Mil


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

A Calculated Decision

It was decided that Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie come with me to find Fred in Vancouver. Alice and Esme, or more like Alice, threw themselves into planning Edward's wedding to Bella. Edward declined the invitation from Carlisle to come with us saying he wanted to spend time with Bella since this was the beginning of their engagement and all that lovey dovey crap. We all piled into this monster truck like jeep and Emmett tore down the highway with Rosalie by his side. I got to sit in the back seat…in the middle…between Jasper and Carlisle. Not that it was awkward per se, just weird. Jasper acted like sitting next to a skunk would have been more preferable, while Carlisle asked me all sorts of questions about Victoria's coven and what the dark cloaks, or the Volturi I guess.

What should have taken a normal person to drive to Port Angeles and hour, Emmett and his maniac driving skills got there in thirty-five minutes. Carlisle bought our tickets on a ferry and a hop, skip, and a jump away five and a half hours later we were in Vancouver British Columbia waiting to go through customs.

"Get in the back under the tarp, Bree." Jasper snapped at me, his first words since we left their mansion.

"Why?"

Carlisle put his hand on my arm to calm me down while simultaneously giving Jasper a look. "You don't have a passport and it would be easier to get through if we don't have to explain why you're with us."

"Just trust us," Rosalie smiled from the front seat. "Don't worry, nothing is going to happen."

Rolling my eyes, I climbed over the back seat and pulled an old camouflage tarp over my head that smelled like moss and a little bit of Bella. I bit my tongue to stop the venom from pooling into my mouth.

The jeep stopped and I heard the sound of the window being rolled down. "Hello," came Emmett's booming voice.

"Passports and license," came a bored voice of an officer. There was shuffling and then an awkward silence. "You don't have anything you're bringing into the country?"

"No, we're just spending the weekend in the city." Emmett said.

"Mmm" the border patrol officer sounded unimpressed. "You may go."

"Thanks officer," Emmett exclaimed and once again tore down the road revving the engine.

I waited a minute before I sat up and looked over the back seat. "Where is it that Fred told you to meet him?" Carlisle asked as I swung back over the seat.

"I think its called Score on Davie. He said he would wait in the back for a couple of nights before he'd move on." I looked out the window to the lights of the big city. "I don't even know if he's going to be there."

Carlisle touched my arm. "All we can do is try."

Rosalie looked over her shoulder to me. "Are you sure you don't want to just stay with us?"

"I don't know yet. I'd like to talk to Fred." I saw Jasper shake his head in the reflection on the window. No surprise there that he didn't want me to stay.

Emmett found the bar well enough and parked the jeep a block away. The five of us walked to the backside of the bar where Fred told me to meet him. Tonight was the last night he would wait for me before he would give me up for dead.

It was a full moon tonight, which was really the only light we had in that dark alley. The street lamp's light only made it half way down the alley. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were on high alert, looking into the shadows for any danger. Carlisle stood by me, acting like there wasn't a care in the world.

The alley was small with a dumpster at the far end. The back door to the bar was on our left. But most importantly, Fred wasn't there.

"Maybe you should call out to him," Carlisle said, breaking the silence of the alley. "He knows you and not us."

Nodding, I turned back to the alley. "Fred? Are you here?"

The only sound that was made was the loud voices coming from the bar.

"Perhaps he's given up on you." Jasper said smirking. Rosalie smacked him on the back of the head.

"Fred?" I called again.

The sound of rustling came from the roof and I looked up just in time to see someone jump. He landed before me and Carlisle and stood to his whole, lanky height. "Bree," Fred said looking from me to Carlisle, to the others.

It was like the events of the last two days were lifted off my shoulders just by hearing his voice. "Fred!" I chocked and crashed myself into his body, throwing my arms around his skinny midsection. He patted me awkwardly on the back.

"I thought you were dead."

"Looks like I cheated it again."

He chuckled. "I would appear so."

I looked up into the eyes of my friend and saw that he was watching the Cullen's carefully. "You've brought company."

I turned back to the others. "Fred, let me introduce you to-"

"The yellow eyes," he interrupted. "I can see clearly, Bree. The question is what are you doing with them?"

Before I could give an answer, which honestly I didn't have one, Carlisle spoke. "Fred, I'm Carlisle Cullen and these are my children. We bare you no harm. We only wish to talk. The Volturi has allowed Bree to live if we were to explain the rules to her and she wanted us to find you so that you may be safe too. Please, may we talk."

Fred put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. "Is this some sort of game you're playing?"

"Its no game, Fred." Carlisle continued. "But there are laws that we have to abide by of the Volturi will find you and destroy you."

"That would be the dark clocks," I said.

Fred looked down at me, then back to Carlisle. "What do you want with the girl?"

"Nothing," Carlisle replied. "I only care about her safety. If she decides to go with you, we will part as friends. But if she wants to come home with us, she is more than welcome."

That strange stirring that was becoming familiar tugged at something deep down inside me. Did I want to stay with the Cullens, or go off with Fred into the unknown? Decisions, decisions.

"We have something in common then," Fred said. "I'll listen to what you have to say. Just make it quick."

* * *

It took Carlisle ten minutes to explain everything, and then another ten for him to answer all of Fred's questions. They left for the jeep ten minutes ago. I sat by the dumpster, that smelled like stale beer and curly fries, on an overturned bucket while Fred paced back and forth deep in thought. I watched while absentmindedly drawing nothing into the pavement with a stick. Fred was deciding what he was going to do next. I should have been doing the same, but if I was being honest with myself, I was afraid to make a decision.

"Where will you go?" I asked, a bit weirded out by the silence and constant pacing.

He didn't stop. "Northeast maybe. I've heard its lovely this time of year."

I nodded and went back to drawing nothing. "I think you should go with the yellow eyes." Fred said, finally stopping to watch me.

Shocked I looked up at him. "What if I want to go with you?"

"You don't though," he said. "I can see it in your eyes, you're drawn to them and you want to go back."

I got off the bucket. "You don't understand, Fred. Its like they're a family. You heard Carlisle calling them his children. They even act like brothers and sisters, horsing around and scolding each other."

"And what's wrong with that?"

I tossed the stick aside. "Its just weird."

"Its what a family is supposed to be like. Not abusive."

I glared at him. He held up his hands in peace. "Just an observation. I'm not saying anything." He went back to pacing.

I glanced down at my hands, trying to find the right words to say. "He has a wife." Fred stopped pacing a turned back to me. "Their mother." I put the name in air quotes. I looked away from Fred. "She's nice."

"Most mother's are," he said, folding his arms in front of him.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to him. "I wouldn't know."

"Precisely why you should go with them."

"What if I don't want to."

"And yet you do," he stated matter of fact. "You're just stubborn and afraid to see what is in front of you." He took me by the shoulders. "I want you to go with them Bree. You deserve a second chance at life, at a family. To have parents who actually love you and siblings to look after you." He looked me in the eye. "To be happy. I can't give you any of those."

"What are you talking about?" I protested. "You're my friend. You make me happy."

"But not the kind of happy they could make you," he smiled. "You're my friend too. And as your friend, I want what's best for you and that is a family. Or in this case, a foster family. I want you to go with them."

I opened my mouth to say something, but he continued. "Don't argue with me. I want this for you." He stopped to breathe, like he was making a big sacrifice.

Not caring what he would do, I wrapped my arms around him. He did the same for the first time since I've known him. "How will I keep in contact with you?" I asked, not daring to let him go yet.

"You have an email, right?"

"Yeah its an old school one though. I haven't used it in ages."

He let go of me and went to the dumpster. He quickly found a piece of paper and pulled out a pen from his pocket. "This is my email. I check it at least once a week. If you need anything, just sending me a message and I'll do all that I can to get to where you are." He handed me the paper with a smile. I took it, but didn't look at him. He stepped closer to me. "What is it?"

"I still don't know if I'm doing the right thing? I don't know what to do."

Fred lifted my chin so that I was looking at him. "One thing that I've learned about life is that no one really knows if the decisions they make is the right one. We just have to choose and hope that we've done the right thing. But you have to choose. Call it a calculated decision. Weigh the pros and cons and then act on what you think is right." He stepped back. "I've told you to go with the yellow eyes and I hope you go with them."

"What about you?" I asked.

"I've made my decision," he said simply. He turned back to me. "Now its time for you to make yours."

* * *

How could it be that I could feel both light and heavy as I walked back to the place that Emmett had parked the jeep? Fred left me with a kiss on the forehead and one final good bye with the promise of maybe seeing each other again in the future. He jumped back up to the roof and within seconds he was gone. I stayed by the dumpster that smelled like stale beer and curly fries for a while trying to get the courage to place one foot in front of the other.

I could see them waiting for me as I turned the corner of the parking lot. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were leaning up against the tale lights while Carlisle paced just as furiously as Fred had before them.

"Come on, Carlisle. She'll come back," Emmett said while putting an arm around Rosalie.

Jasper scoffed. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I am." Emmett defended me.

"What is it, Carlisle?" Rosalie asked. "Last time I saw you this serious was a year ago."

Carlisle stopped and turned to the others. "Esme asked me to promise her that we would bring Bree back. She thinks the girl needs more than she is letting on."

I couldn't help but smile.

"You really want her to stay with us?" It was Emmett who asked, sounding just as eager as Rosalie.

Carlisle looked at all of them. "Yes. She needs us."

I walked towards them. They all turned at the sound of my footsteps. Carlisle sighed and smiled to me. I smiled back, hoping it didn't look weird.

"You've come back." Carlisle stated simply.

I stopped just in front of them, looking at all of them. Rosalie and Emmett were looking at me with encouragement, Jasper with concern. It was Carlisle that was looking at me with something that I didn't recognized. Maybe it was hope, or desire to help. It was kind of like the one that Bella and Edward gave each other or Emmett and Rosalie, but different in a way. It was foreign to me, but I liked the way it made me feel.

"Fred left," I said. "He went northeast. He said it would be pretty this time of year."

Carlisle stepped closer to me. "And have you made a decision?"

I looked around at everyone again and I realized that I was holding my breath. I stopped my gaze on Carlisle. "I have."

Carlisle peered at me intently. Jasper spoke up. "What is it then?"

I didn't stop looking at Carlisle. "Did you really mean that I had a place with you in your coven?"

"Yes." It was all that he said.

I took one more step closer. "Then I would like to stay with you. If that would be okay with you."

Carlisle closed the distance between us and pulled me into a hug. I hesitated for a second before I tentatively put my arms around him. "It is more then alright," he said and it sounded like he was laughing. He pulled away to look at me and then the others. "Come," he started pulling me to the jeep. "Let's go home."

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with work and I got a spring cold. There was also a wedding an engagement in my family so I had a couple of parties. I know I said I would update weekly, but I'm going to rescind that and state that I'll update when I can. I'm beginning to see the challenges I face and I'm doing my best to give you what you want. Just be patient. I'm doing my best. Anyway thanks for reading.

~Mil


	6. Author's note

Hello readers! I must apologize for my absence. These past few months have been hectic to say the least and I haven't felt motivated to write. My brother got married in late June so I had lots to do to help the couple get set up and lots of bridal showers and parties to go to. I finally no longer have that obligation to fulfill. The only thing that seems to be keeping me from my computer lately is work and I do have to put food on the table and gas in my car. I've come home each day exhausted and all I've wanted to do was to curl up with a good book and read. I know how little this apology must seem because I've been on your end of the story waiting for the author to update and to do so soon. I hope you haven't given up on me and that you'll continue to read this story in the future. I am planning to continue this story and I have other ideas for stories in the future. So please be patient with me. I'll have something hopefully soon. I can't tell you how happy it has made me to receive feedback from you guys and its been positive. I hope that this hiatus hasn't ruined your enthusiasm for Bree's story, or how I think Bree should have been treated.

I will have something soon.

~Mil


	7. Chapter 5

**Author's note:** Hello? Is anyone out there? Anyone out there that still wants to read this? I don't know how to apologize to you for how long you've had to wait for this. Therefore I'll let you get to reading and I'll explain myself at the end. Happy reading and I hope to see you at the end of this.

Chapter Five

Settling In

"We're home!" Emmett's voice boomed throughout the house as we walked in the back door.

Alice was the first to fly down the stairs. "Guess what!" she squealed as she latched onto Jasper's arm and started to tug on him like a little child.

"What darling," he said smiling. I had to do a double take. He hadn't smiled in my presence yet and it startled me.

"They're engaged! There is so much to do and so little time because she wants the wedding date to be August thirteenth. You and Rose and Emmett and Esme have to help me start planning. Come on! We've already started without you in Esme's office." She said all of this in one breath and if it wasn't for the fact that she was a vampire, I would've been worried for her lungs. She began to haul him up the stairs.

Rosalie took Emmett's hand and followed the other two up the stairs. "Do we really have to help them now?" Emmett whined.

"If we help them now for a couple of hours then perhaps Alice will let up take a break." She winked at him. Emmett gave her a throaty chuckle and slapped her butt. I blushed for her since she was too busy giggling.

As they disappeared around the corner, Esme appeared and made her way down to greet us. "I'm so glad to see you Bree," Esme addressed me after kissing Carlisle on the cheek.

I looked down at the floor, not used to this kind of PDA. "I'm glad you wanted me to stay."

She came up and took my hand. I looked up to see her smiling at me. "Come with me. I have something to show you." I glanced at Carlisle to see if he knew what his wife wanted. He just nodded for me to follow.

She guided me up the stairs, or I should say three flights to get to the top floor, then to a door at the end of the hall. There wasn't much up here. Only one other door was up here and that was to a small bathroom. There was a banister that overlooked the main living room and the stair case. I could touch the vaulted ceiling when I stood on my tippy toes. If I was into spying, this could be my little perch. Almost everything could be heard from up here. On one of the lower levels I could hear Alice barking orders to the other three. Esme turned to me and smiled. She stood in front of a door that had to be made to fit to the ceiling which cut across the top left edge. It reminded me of a picture I'd seen as a kid of a little elven door.

"I was rather hopeful that you would stay with us." Esme declared. "Carlisle called me before you left Vancouver and told me your decision. I thought you could use some space for yourself. It gets kinda crowded sometimes."

I gave her a half smile, still not used to any show of kindness or that I felt like I wanted her to hug me. With a deep breath, and a pretty smile, she opened the door and waved her hand like she was a fairy godmother granting me a wish. Looking into the room, but was too stunned to move.

"It's not much," Esme stated. "Not as big as some of the other rooms, but I thought you'd like it." I still hadn't moved to walk inside. Esme lightly touched my hand and guided me inside. It was small, I guess, by normal standards. There was a twin bed and a nightstand by the door, along with a closet and dresser. An empty bookcase was beside the only window in the room, but it had a window bench. The ceiling was still tall enough for me to stand under, but it did sloped down towards the window. "Do you like it?"

I hadn't realized that I had walked into the middle of the room until I had to turn to see Esme at the door with an expectant smile on her face. "Its…pink."

To clarify, the walls were painted white, which seemed to be the main color scheme in the house. The dresser and nightstand however were painted pink, the bedspread was pink and the curtains in the window was pink. It was like I had walked into one of those Barbie dream houses I used to see in department stores around Christmas time.

Esme's face fell slightly and I rushed to stop her from getting the wrong idea. "Don't get me wrong. I like the room. Its nice. I…um…"

She came forward hesitantly, like I was some animal that could easily be spooked. "What honey. You can tell me anything." She took my hand and smiled that smile again, the one that made me feel safe. Did she ever stop doing that?

I smiled back, hoping that it didn't look my a grimace. "I don't like the color pink."

She looked relieved and laughed. "That's not a problem dear, I can fix it. Alice suggested the color and I assumed that you would like it. Alice's visions are almost never wrong. We could fix this up. Make it your space. We could add your favorite books to that case and get pillows for the window. I know we don't sleep, but I wanted to make you as comfortable as can be here-"

Before she could continue her ramble, I grabbed her hand. "This is nice, Esme thank you." She squeezed my hand before she turned to leave me alone. I looked at the bed with it frillies and lace. "I've had never had one of these before." I didn't mean for it to come out, but there it was. Esme pivoted to look at me again.

"Had what, dear?"

I sat down on the bed. It was soft and cushioned my butt like it was made for it. "A room."

Nothing was said for a long moment until Esme cleared her throat. I looked at her and she looked like she would cry if she could. She gave me a smile that reached her eyes. "Well," she cleared her throat. "Now you do."

We stared at each other for a moment. I got that strange sensation again like she could hug me and everything would be right with the world. Like she could love me without any conditions or strings attached. Like she was my mother. I shook my head to clear it.

I stood up again and walked to the window. From three stories up I could see the backyard below and the forest behind that. The river gently meandered down its path through the trees like this scene was apart of some fairy tale. I was spellbound since I most of my life was nothing more than a nightmare.

"Alice and I also found some clothes that could fit you." Esme said from behind me. "She wanted to run to the outlet mall and get you some new clothes to wear but I proposed the you would like to pick them out yourself."

She opened the drawers to the dresser. Inside were an assortment of clothes that didn't look at all like I would like them. Lots more lace and pastel colors.

"Thanks," I said picking up a yellow blouse.

Esme laughed. I must have been showing my disgust. "Don't get me wrong." I rushed hoping I didn't offend her. "I like darker colors."

Esme brushed at my sweater in a motherly fashion. "Clearly," she giggled.

"Do you have any plaid?"

She laughed heartily. "Oh Alice will love that."

I looked down at my dirty, tattered clothes and winced. The Cullen house was so clean. I probably tracked dirt into it. My shoes were caked with mud. "I'm so sorry Esme. I wasn't even thinking about what I look like. If you show me where the vacuum is I can clean your house."

"Nonsense, I'll have it cleaned up in no time. Why don't you go take a shower?"

I ran my hand through my hair only to get it snagged on a rats nest. "I guess I haven't had one of those in a while," I joked trying to hide the nest behind my ear.

I followed her out of the room, though, I guess I should start calling it my room, still felt weird to think I had a room. "There's towels in the bathroom and I've already stocked it with soap and bath salts and everything you should need." She turned around outside the bathroom door. I had to stop short if I didn't want to run into her. She put her hands on my shoulders. "I'm really glad that you decided to stay dear." She pulled me close and kissed my forehead. "Now go take your shower. You kind of smell like the wolves."

Not sure what she meant, I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. I grimaced when I saw my reflection in the mirror. I hadn't seen myself since my change so I didn't really know what I looked like. Underneath the dirt and grim encrusted all over my hair, face, and clothes, my skin was luminescent. My eyes were creepy with their crimson hue, but at least the bruises were gone. My lips weren't split in two and as I peeled off my clothes, the cuts and scrapes were gone too. It was eerie to see myself as, well, nice looking. I wouldn't blend into the walls anymore.

The water going down the drain quickly turned brown as I worked the mud off of my skin. I took a brush with me into the shower and had used it to try and get my hair untangled. The soap Esme left for me smelled like wild flowers. When I was finished, I wrapped a towel around my hair and one under my arms.

Back in my room, I explored a little more of my closet and dresser drawers, hoping I could find something other than yellow to wear. Most of it was just as frilly and lacy as the bed, but I did find some black jeans and a dark red sweater. The underwear drawer had next to nothing. Lots of push up bras and skimpy looking pieces of clothe that resembled dental floss than underwear. Didn't they know you could get a pack of undies at Walmart seven in a pack for five dollars? You didn't really need all these things that must have come out of a Victoria Secret catalog. It was difficult finding something that was comfortable but when I reached the bottom of the drawer I found something that could be passable.

After dressing and pulling my hair into a braid, I thought I should join the others downstairs. The voices that I heard coming from the second floor earlier had migrated into the dinning room. From the glimpse that I got from the top of the stairs, it looked like Alice had moved dozens of plastic boxes and scattered them all around the table. She was pouring over a binder with dress designs in it. Jasper had moved to watch sport center on the TV. I found Esme in the dining room with Alice.

"Ah, you found something to wear," Esme commented, setting aside the binder she was holding. Alice looked up and scowled. "It seems Bella isn't the only one that needs help organizing her wardrobe."

I looked down then glared at her. "What's wrong with this?"

She opened her mouth before Esme piped it. "Alice, she looks nice."

Alice closed her mouth and smiled at me. "Yes you do look nice." Then she gasped, making me jump by her sudden excitement. "Its nearly ten o'clock and the mall will be open soon. Let's go shopping! You need a new clothes anyway since all of the ones that Esme and I picked for you were hand-me-downs anyway." She grabbed my hand and started marching me towards the front door. "I can see it now. You'll look so amazing in-"

"She is NOT going out!" Jasper had stated with no argument in his tone.

Alice whirled around and glared at him. "And why not?"

He stood and walked towards us. "She's a newborn vampire. It isn't wise to take her to town where there would be temptation all around her."

"Jasper, don't be ridiculous. She needs clothes and Esme insists that she should pick them out."

"There is online shopping," he suggested glaring at me.

"But that's hardly any fun. She needs to try them on."

"We promised we would keep a close eye on her to the Volturi. They're probably in New York by now. They could easily turn around and come back if _she_ slaughters the entire town."

"Jasper-"

"I said no." He left no room for any further argument. He glowered at me while Alice shot daggers at him and I just scowled. From behind us, Esme rapped her knuckles on the table. With the two of them fighting, I'd forgotten that she was here.

"If I may, why don't I go with you Alice. I was going to stop at the hardware store and get some paint for Bree's room. I'm sure Bree would just like to relax here at home. She's told me that she likes darker colors and plaid shirts."

"But I've seen that she looks better in-" Alice started.

"I'm sure you've seen a vision in which Bree was dressed like she was ready to go to church on Easter Sunday, but for now, perhaps it would be better to make her as comfortable here as we can. Its the most hospitable thing we can do."

Alice let go of my arm. "You're right of course."

"Thank you, dear. Will you do me a favor and get my purse? Its up in my room."

Jasper turned to Esme when Alice disappeared on the second floor. "Thanks for backing me up."

"Oh I wasn't." She reprimanded him like he was a little boy. "You've been treating Bree poorly since the battle and its unacceptable." Jasper tried to speak but Esme bulldozed over him. "She is a guess, and as such you will treat her like one or like you would treat anyone of your siblings. As a southern gentleman you should know better."

Just like that, Jasper looked repentant. "I'm sorry." He said to know one in particular. He went back to the couch and turned the volume back up on the TV.

Amazed, I looked across the room at Esme. Carlisle was making his way down the stairs with a book in his hands. He kissed her check, then turned and motioned for me to join them. I followed them into the kitchen. "Do you like your room?"

I leaned against the oven. "Yes, its very nice."

"What's your favorite color, sweetie?" Esme asked putting her arms around Carlisle's chest.

I shrugged. "I like red I guess." She nodded. I watched them together and decided I had to ask. "Why is it everyone wants me to stay, but not _him?_ You've gone out of your way to make me feel at home while Jasper treats me like some prison warden."

Carlisle sighed. "He's only concerned about everyones well being. He means well. He'll come around."

"I doubt that," I mumbled.

They smiled at me like I was both right and wrong. "I have something for you." Carlisle held out the book to me. "I know this could be a difficult transition for you since you don't really know much about being a vampire. So I thought that keeping a diary would help." He handed the diary to me.

I took it and flipped through it. All the pages were blank. "So are you like a psychiatrist or something? Riley said you were a doctor."

Carlisle laughed. "No, just a regular physician and surgeon. Though I've had a long time to study every aspect of the human body." Esme chuckled. Alice came into the kitchen with Esme's purse. I held the diary up and saluted Carlisle with it. "Thanks. I'll try to use it." Carlisle smiled.

"Ready to go?" Alice held up the purse for Esme to take. "Sure you don't want to come?" Alice asked me with a wink. Jasper growled from the den.

I rolled my eyes. "Nah, I guess I'll just stay here then."

Esme kissed my check while she followed Alice into the garage. Carlisle took a pair of keys off the rack. "Sorry, but I have to make the rounds at the hospital. Try to enjoy yourself here."

Panicked, I glanced in the den. "Where are Emmett and Rosalie?" I really didn't want to be home alone with the Warden. I decided then that that is what I was going to call him. Warden. It sounded fitting.

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Well, a, I'm sure they are around here somewhere. Word from the wise, don't go looking for them. They'll make an appearance shortly." I guess I looked confused. "They need some alone time," he deadpanned. Then it clicked. Let's say health class, while probably the most exciting class, was also not one of my best subjects in school. Actually, school wasn't my best subject. Carlisle left them without another word.

The TV in the other room increased in volume. "I'll just go to my room then," I said to the closed garage door. I'd rather set myself on fire then hang out with the Warden. Climbing the stairs again into my own little corner of the house, I shut my door to drown out the news caster droning on about some stupid spot or another. I tossed the diary onto the nightstand then crossed the room to sit on the window seat. It had started to rain and there was a mist creeping across the tops of the forest trees. Once again I thought it looked like something out of a fairy tale. I never believed in fairy godmothers or that there was good in this world. I wasn't raised like that. This was surreal. I didn't want to pinch myself incase it was. I would do anything not to go back to that life again. Anything.

 **Author's note:** **hiding from behind a rock** Did I say I was sorry? I am. I'm really sorry. Let me explain. After I posted that author's note I mapped out this next chapter thinking that I could fit six weeks of time into one chapter. I thought that you would rather get to the good stuff like the wedding and pregnancy and such. Then I got writer's block. Not necessarily the worse that I've ever had, but bad enough. Instead of six weeks into one chapter, I stared at the computer screen for six weeks. Some of my friends suggested I split it up. So that's what I did. I still stared at the computer for a while but I did start thinking of ideas. So I'm going to run with this and do as my friends said. So that means aside from this one, you get five more chapters before the wedding!...maybe. I don't know I'm still playing with it. But hey, would you like something before Halloween? I'll make a goal to post a chapter for Halloween. Thank you for your patience. You guys are the best.


	8. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:*** **peeks through a full suit of armor.** *** Hi there…sorry its been like three months, but I have a good excuse. But you probably don't want to hear it until after you read what you really are hear to read. See you at the end…if I have any followers left to read this.**

Chapter Six

Vampire Watching

One week. One week has passed since I came to the Cullens' home and I was convinced that someone should write a book about this family. Seriously it would be on the New York bestseller list and they would make millions. Remember how I said I had a vantage point where I could watch people? Well there is plenty to watch.

It became pertinent that I stayed away from Bella while I adjusted to the diet from hell. Jasper was the only one that called this transition "pertinent." I called it sadistic. Everyone else thought that I should at least try to get to know her and be around her. Everyone except Edward, who seemed to be on the fence on the subject. I wasn't sure if it was because even I didn't trust myself, or he was too busy spending every waking moment (and even those where humans generally slept) with Bella. When I found out that they were abstaining from having sex, but they spent every night together…in the same bed…apparently not doing anything, I wanted to congratulate someone on their massive will power. I got the sense that it was Edward. Since I was new to the "family" I decided that I shouldn't have an opinion, even if it was that this relationship was a little weird.

Jasper became my shadow, following me and watching my every move, ready to tear me a new one. It was beyond infuriating. Though the Cullens said that I was apart of the family and that I was welcomed here, I felt more like I was more welcomed in a prison.

The first thing Esme did after she got home from shopping with Alice was to begin moving everything out of the room she had given me. She told me to help Alice unload the trunk of the car four hours after they initially left.

"Wait until you see what Esme has in store for your room," Alice said excitedly as she hung designer label shopping bags up and down her arm. "I just know you're going to love it."

"And how would you know that?" I asked with a bit more bite than I had intended. The Warden made me edgy.

All Alice did was tap her temple with her well-manicured finger. Like that was all the answer I needed. Going to the trunk, I noticed that all that was left were paint cans. The paint dot on the lid showed that Esme had picked red, black, and gold. Using no effort on my part (was I going to ever get used to this vampiric strength?) I picked up the cans, closed the trunk door and made my way up the serpentine staircase to my room.

Esme was sitting on the floor unfastening the screws to my bed. "Oh good, you got the paint. Just set them there by the door and help me with this bed."

"Where are you putting everything?"

The last screw popped out of its socket and Esme pulled the bed away from the headboard. "There is a library one floor down that I told Alice to put everything in. Jasper mostly uses it as a study, but its really a family library. It will do for the time being." Encroaching on the Warden's space made me very satisfied.

I carried the headboard down the stairs and met the Warden on his way up. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Just taking this to the library." I saw Alice move inside a door to my right and followed her in.

"But this is the study. You can't set things in here."

"Oh Jasper give it a rest." Seems I didn't need to have a witty comeback with Alice there to fight back.

"I'm not sure everyone understands the repercussions with her being here and Bella becoming apart of the fam-"

"She's family now too." Alice said matter of factly. "Besides, Bree and I are going to be great friends. I've already seen it." She linked her arm through mine.

"You already used that line one Edward about Bella." Jasper countered.

"And look how well that turned out." Alice smiled triumphantly.

"You can't bring these newborns home like they're homeless puppies," he tried to counter.

Alice got a twinkle in her eyes. "I remember once you told me that you liked dogs."

Jasper walked over to her and pushed the nightstand closer to the wall. "I'm not much of a fan now."

Alice grimaced. "I agree with you there."

Jasper gave Alice the same look I've seen Carlisle and Edward use on their respective mates, before glaring at me and grumbling about no respect of privacy in this family. Whatever that meant!

Three days later the paint was dry on the walls and the furniture was moved back into the room. I asked Esme if she would keep the left over paint in my room. I kind of thought it would be fun to paint the dresser and maybe the bookshelf. I'd never done anything like it before and it looked fun when Esme was painting my room. She let me watch from the doorway.

The Warden all but locked himself in the library when the last of the stuff was moved out. In those three days he made me go hunting every—stinkin'-day to keep my thirst under control. He claimed that since I had a "bad start in life" (his words not mine) I had to work that much harder to become disciplined. Emmett and Rosalie tried to get the Warden to leave me alone, but he ignored them. Which is why after one day of this stupidity, Emmett and Rosalie seemed to take pity on me and began coming along on the numerous hunting trips. On the afternoon of the second day, Emmett, Rosalie, and I were walking back to the house after eating Bambi out in the woods.

"I really don't know why Jasper is being this way," Emmett commented after I had taken a breath between complaining.

"Really," I rolled my eyes. "You don't know why."

Rosalie nodded her head. "He's usually not this way. I mean, he can be a bit over the top-"

"A bit!" I yelled.

"When it comes to feeding," she continued while giving me the stink eye, "but he does it because he understand the struggle on a deeper level."

We had reached the river and all three of us jumped over it simultaneously. "What do you mean by that?"

"He had sort of the same up bringing like you did." Emmett piped in. "To make a very long story short, and because I feel like we've already been through this back story recently with Bella, Jasper was in Texas during a dark period in vampire history when warring covens were fighting over territory to feed. He was a leader of one that had most of the land."

We had made it to the backyard when something dawned on me. "Is that why he has all the scares?"

"Yep," was all that Emmett replied.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Don't give away the ending honey." She turned to me. "He's struggled most of his vampire life with the urge to drink blood and really he's just looking out for you and the family. He wouldn't want anything bad to happen to anyone. Especially after he attacked Bella."

I stopped just before we got to the back door. "What?!"

Rosalie instantly looked like she gave away a secret. "Way to go _honey_ , you know both Jasper and Edward asked us not to talk about that."

I opened the door to the house, walked in, and kicked off my shoes. It had rained (like when does it not in this place?) and the forest was nothing more that a muddy bog. "So he's already attacked Bella but everyone is worried that I'll attack her. Seems quite fair to me," I said sarcastically. In the kitchen, Carlisle and Esme were pouring over a list, which was safe to assume it was for the upcoming wedding.

"What's this all about?" Esme asked sweetly.

Emmett came in behind me and tugged on my ponytail. "Awe, Lil' Bree is just complaining about-uh, what did you call him?"

I pushed him off me. "The Warden."

"Right," Emmett said smartly. "She's complaining that the Warden is being too harsh on her while she's getting used to the lifestyle of a vampire vegetarian." He looked so smug, leaning back against the counter that a shoved him. He only had to readjust is weight since he was stronger than me and then he had the nerve to chuckle. Emmett started treating me like his little sister since day one and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It annoyed the hell out of me most of the time, but it was also a little endearing and I kind of liked it. Don't tell him I said that though, okay.

"She's just being a little dramatic." Rosalie said slipping her arm through Emmett's.

I glared at her and scoffed. "So says the Drama Queen."

"Girls!" Esme quipped before Rosalie could say something and she did look like she was about to tear into me. "Bree you have nothing to worry about. Jasper wouldn't hurt you." She gave me that smile again, that was supposed to make me feel loved and safe, but this time it infuriated me.

"How can you know that?" I said exasperated. "For all you know, he could be plotting to take me into the forest to murder me, all the while telling the rest of you that I had gone off to live a life with Fred, when in fact he buried my body down by the river."

Esme and Carlisle looked at me like I was reading way too much into the situation. Emmett started to shake with his boisterous laugh and Rosalie just gave me a patronizing smile. From the other room though, I heard a sinister chuckle resonate. If I was in a horror movie, I would have sweat rolling down my forehead. A moment later, the Warden walked by the kitchen and looked at me. His smile was all evil villain and suggested that he had over heard me. I turned to the others and pointed towards the door as if to show off exhibit A, but all of them were looking over the list, discussing what needed to be done for the wedding and none of them had seen the Warden walk by.

I wasted no time in racing up the stairs and locking my door. Not that it would do me any good since he could knock it down if he wanted to, but it gave me a false sense of security.

Before my life as a vampire, I was actually good at people watching. It the pastime of my people-the wallflowers. It especially helped that I had two vantage points from where I could watch. That first night I designated the window seat as my favorite spot in the house. With the paint now dry on the walls, I could sit on the bench and look out the window.

It was mid-afternoon on a Friday, like I said earlier one week after I agreed to stay with the Cullens, when Edward arrived home with Bella. I had been watching the sports center on ESPN with Emmett when Edward's car pulled up. I zoomed up the stairs and slammed the door before the Warden could chase me or Edward could get out of the car to help Bella. I curled my knees under my chin while sitting on my bed, alternately remembering to breath deeply to calm my nerves or sucking in a huge breath to stop myself from smelling Bella's aroma.

"Welcome home, Bella!" I heard Esme exclaim.

"Thank you." I could hear as Bella shuffled her feet and then sink down onto a couch.

"So how are things at home?" Esme asked.

"Relatively okay. Charlie didn't try to shoot Edward when we told him. Though he did think the obvious."

"Its only obvious to you because you keep misinterpreting peoples reactions." Edward's voice seemed to laugh.

"Why wouldn't people think this is a shot gun wedding?"

"Because you and I both know its not the case and we're getting married because we love each other."

"But I know that not the case with Charlie. He is my dad after all." After knowing Edward for a week, I mean the moments when he was home and without Bella, I could almost hear his eyes roll.

"Well what did you two have planned for this afternoon?" Esme asked. From a floor below, I could hear Alice rummaging around in her massive closet.

"Alice wants to do some wedding planning." This was whispered by Bella though I don't know why she did. Everyone could hear her clear as a bell including me up on the fourth floor.

Alice's door opened and she began to chuckle. "I heard that Bella," she called in a sing-a-long voice. Further down the stairs I listened to her groan.

By now, Bella's scent was making its way into my room. Granted, her scent had an undertone throughout the house so I was getting used to it. This was one of those reasons that irritated me about Jasper. I smelled everyone in every room. Yes it was a bit uncomfortable with Bella's scent, but I was getting used to it. With it now seeping into my room, I couldn't breathe as deeply. That was one of the hints that Emmett had shared with me.

"Keep it to a minimum," he had said a few days ago. "Until you can breathe a little more easier and just work your way up. It doesn't go completely away, but it becomes less consuming."

"It will always be an irritant when you're around humans." Rosalie had chimed in. "But with practice, it gets easier."

With her aroma filtering in my room, I started breathing as deeply as I dared.

"Well, I hope you guys have fun," Esme said. "Alice already has a to-do list for me to get done so I'm leaving for Seattle this afternoon."

"Are you two ready?" Alice called. It sounded like Bella groaned and Edward chuckled.

Fifteen minutes later Bella, Edward, and Alice were outside on the deck discussing wedding preparations. It was a nice, almost warm, afternoon with the sun playing peak-a-boo with the clouds. It didn't seem to faze Alice or Edward of the slight chill and Bella was only wearing a jacket. Not used to this kind of weather, I was nestled on my window seat in a blanket, watching them below me. Alice had fabric swatches out and the couple was supposed to be picking out patterns for tablecloths and napkins.

"You've already seen what we'll pick Alice. Just go with that one." Bella had started to whine five minutes ago, while Edward just stared at her with that goofy, lovesick grin of his.

Alice ran her fingers threw her hair, something that I've learned meant she was frustrated. "This isn't my wedding, Bella. This is yours. You are the one that is supposed to make the decision, not me."

"Yeah, but you're the wedding planer. You know what you're doing better than I do."

Edward tried to cover up a laugh with a cough. Alice whirled on him. "Are you just going to sit there?"

He sighed. "I like these." He pointed to the metallic silver fabric. "That's the one that I'm seeing in your head."

Alice looked like she'd jump over the table to rip his head off. "Just because I've seen it, doesn't mean its what you want," she said almost matter of factly.

"I like those, too." Bella piped in, taking Edward's hand and giving him the exact same lovesick look.

"Only fifteen minutes in and I'd like to throttle the both of them." The threat was said under her breath but low enough for only Edward and me to catch on. Edward coughed a laugh, which made Alice glare, and Bella catch on that something was going on. "What?"

"Oh nothing love," Edward replied pulling Bella closer. "Alice just thinks she's being menacing."

"You could either choose from these fabrics," she gestured to the ones on the table. "Or we could make a quick trip to Belgium for their exquisite lace tablecloths. I have an excellent relationship with several factory owners in Bruges. Since I am considered such a valued costumer, I'm sure I could get customized gold thread embroidery tablecloths. I'm positive we could get a deal of three hundred dollars a table." She grinned with all to innocent look of triumph.

Bella looked aghast. Edward scowled at Alice. "You wouldn't," he said through gritted teeth. From what I understood of the relationship, this was how he tried to protect Bella.

Alice leaned against the table and placed her chin between her tented fingers. "Try me," she insisted. It was like she just won a game of poker.

Edward looked at Bella and Bella looked a bit nauseous. He pointed to the same fabric and Bella nodded, probably too scared to speak.

"Fine. We'll do that one." Alice sounded more irritated than relieved. "Now, one to the invitations." With a loud thud, she lifted a huge binder out of a bag and onto the table. Bella grounded and Edward coughed another laugh. I couldn't help but laugh myself.

That was a mistake. My laugh has always been somewhat loud. I've been told in the past, mostly from _him,_ that it sounded like a dying, braying donkey. Hence why I rarely laughed. All three of them turned to my window and I all but sprang off the seat, completely forgetting I was in a blanket, and landed with thunderous crash on my floor. If I could, I would have added another bruise to my body.

"Was that Bree?" I heard Bella's melodic voice rise up from below. I winced, more because I was trying to avoid Bella than I was remembering how it felt to injure myself. Bella was becoming insistent on meeting me, but Edward was really good at keeping her occupied. Not to mention Alice was constantly on her case about one wedding detail after another.

"Yes, love. She saw a spider and hit it a little too hard." Damn could he spin a lie. He was going to get in trouble one of these days if he wasn't careful. Bella didn't seem like the kind that liked a liar. I untangled myself from the blanket and sat on the bed.

"You should go give her this." My ears perked up. _What the hell could she want to give me?_

"Maybe we should wait." _Why wait?_

"That's what you said last time." _They talked about this before?_

"She might not be ready." _Ready for what?_

"Well, you don't have a choice now genius," Alice piped in. "She's heard this whole conversation." _Did I mention that I liked Alice?_

"Go give it to her," Bella begged. "Please." _Yeah, Edward please._

"Alright." There was a soft sound of a kiss, then the rustling of opening a bag before suddenly he was knocking on my door. "Could I come in Bree?"

"Uhhh," the door opened before I could answer.

Edward stepped into the room. "Sorry to barge in, but Bella wanted to give you something."

I nodded and gestured to the window. "So I've heard."

He stepped further into the room. "Bella thought you would like this." He held out a book that was in his hands. "She wants to be friends."

He stood there awkwardly for a moment before I remembered I was supposed to take what he offered. "Thanks," _I think_ _._ He smiled at and tapped his temple.

I gave him an frustrated look. He just smiled and handed me the book. It looked worn and tattered. Some of the pages were folded over and the spine was cracked in several places. I took it gingerly, worried that it might fall apart. "Well tell her thanks."

Edward smirked. "Will do. Enjoy it okay."

I gave him a two-finger salute as he closed the door. The front cover looked like it could be pulled apart into two sheaths of paper. Bella's scent lingered on the pages. It was faint, but still there. Remembering what Emmett said, I raised the book to my nose and breathed deeply. Bella's scent was more prominent, but so were old paper, dust, and a vague remnant of ink. Maybe if I smelled this every day like Riley tried to get us to smell the blouse, I could get used to it and not have to hide in my room.

I looked at the title. Of Mice and Men. What kind of crap name is this? What do mice and men have in common? Well, I guess it was a nice gesture. I walked over to the still empty bookshelf and placed it there. I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do with either one. I didn't like reading, but I didn't want to tell Edward or Bella that, and Esme seemed to think that this room needed a bookshelf for…something.

Laughter rang from below again and I turned to the window. The three of them were at it again, discussing wedding details that looked more painful than enjoyable. I had to giggle in spite of myself.

This family was crazy, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I belonged here.

 **Author's note: *** **still wearing a suit of armor.** *** Hello again. I can't tell you how sorry I am that it's been a while. I know what you're thinking because I've thought it too when the authors I follow don't post on time. I really was going to post around Halloween as a treat to you guys, but then it wasn't good enough. So I thought I'd give you a Thanksgiving feast, but then I looked at the story and what I had mapped out for this chapter and decided to scratch everything and start over. This chapter has kicked my butt. It started off one way and just like the last chapter it took a different turn. I actually had it "done" just before Christmas and I was going through to edit, when I thought up a different scene. So once again, it got put off because I work in retail and Christmas is almost a punch line to a joke in my line of work. Today I finally got it worked out the way I like it and feel comfortable sharing. So I hope you can find it in your heart (again) to forgive me. I have up to about chapter 12 figured out. Once again, my new years goal is to finish Bree's story and then start on something new. Spoil alert it will be about Renesmee. Happy reading and I'll try to get back on here soon.**

 **~Mil**


	9. Author's Note 2

Readers~

I'm sorry for the inconvenience…again. This chapter I'm working on is putting my through the wringer. I've decided that after three full months of staring at the computer with only a few, poorly written paragraphs that I hate this chapter and I'm going to delete it. Never fear I'm starting over. Hopefully I'll find my stride again and continue telling Bree's side of the story. For those of you still reading, thank you for your patience. I'm sorry it's taking me so long but I've hit a wall and I'm giving up with this train of thought and I'm going to go back to the drawing board. I hope to breach the problem soon and have a real update for you soon.

I'll see you soon,

~Mil


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